..„. .. -.- i •• «tt a
. 1 •.'•>.••••
TORONTO.
SHKLF No.
STACKS *
RK(iISTKR N().
THE
WORKS OF THOMAS MANTON, D.D.
VOL. XVIII.
COUNCIL OF PUBLICATION.
W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER, D.D., Professor of Theology, Congregational
Union, Edinburgh.
JAMES BEGG, D.D., Minister of Newington Free Church, Edinburgh.
THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., S.T.P., Professor of Divinity, University,
Edinburgh.
D. T. K. DRUMMOND, M.A., Minister of St Thomas's Episcopal Church,
Edinburgh.
WILLIAM H. GOOLD, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Church
History, Reformed Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh.
ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., Minister of Broughton Place United Presby-
terian Church, Edinburgh.
tfitor.
REV. THOMAS SMITH, D.D., EDINBURGH.
THE COMPLETE WORKS
OF
THOMAS MANTON, D.D.
VOLUME XVIII
CONTAINING
SERMONS ON SEVERAL TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE.
LONDON:
JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.
1874.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
CONTENTS.
SERMONS ON SEVERAL TEXTS or SCRIPTURE — PAGE
SERMON UPON MARK ii. 17, . . . . . 3
„ „ PSALM viii. 2, . , , , .13
„ „ JOSHUA vi. 26, . , . .29
„ „ MICAH vi. 5, , , . . 40
„ „ ISAIAH 1. 10, . . . .51
„ „ 2 SAMUEL vii. 27, . , . . . 62
„ „ PSALM 1. 5, . , , . .74
„ ,. PSALM cxxvii. 3, . . . . . 85
„ „ PHILIPPIANS iv. 8, . . . . 96
„ „ LUKE xix. 14, . . . . . 104
„ „ LUKE ii. 52, . . . .116
„ „ PHILIPPIANS ii. 7, . . . .124
„ „ 1 CORINTHIANS viii. 3, . ,. . .134
„ „ PSALM Ixxxiv. 10, , . . .146
SERMONS UPON LUKE xix. 10, . . . .155
„ „ PSALM xc. 1, . . , . 171
SERMON UPON 1 TIMOTHY vi. 9, . . , . .189
„ „ 1 PETER i. 12, , , . . 202
„ „ GALATIANS v. 5, . . . . .216
„ „ 2 PETER iii. 9, . . .226
„ „ ROMANS x. 5-9, . . . . 236
„ „ ROMANS x. 10, . , . . 249
„ „ 1 CORINTHIANS viii. 6, . . . 259
„ 2 CORINTHIANS iv. 18, . 274
Viii CONTENTS.
PAOS
SERMON UPON LUKE xvi. 25, . . , . 295
„ „ 1 CORINTHIANS xiii. 4-8, .... 306
„ „ PSALM Ixxxiv. 7, . . . . . . 314
„ „ 1 CORINTHIANS xi. 26, . . . 326
. „ „ MALACHI iii. 17, . . . . ^ 337
„ ,,2 TIMOTHY ii. 19, . . . . . 348
„ „ ACTS xxiv. 25, . . . . 357
„ „ PROVERBS iiL 17, . . . . . 367
„ „ PROVERBS iii. 31, 32, . . . .376
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS x. 20, . . ., . . 387
SERMON UPON ACTS x. 34, 35, . . . . . . 405
„ „ MARK iv. 24, . . . . . 420
„ „ HEBREWsii.il, . . ,. . . 430
„ „ HEBREWS xiii. 5, . v . . , 443
„ „ 1 THESSALONIANS v. 8, . . r~L . 453
„ „ PROVERBS xiv. 14, • . . . . 464
SERMONS UPON JOHN i. 29, . . . . . . 475
SERMONS
ON
SEVERAL TEITS OF SCRIPTURE.
VOL. XVIII.
SERMON UPON MARK II. 17.
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no
need of the physician, but they that are sick : I come not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. — MAKE ii. 17.
THE words are Christ's apology for eating with publicans and sinners.
They thought no Jew was to eat or drink or converse with publicans,
whom they looked upon as the vilest sort of men. Publicans are often
joined with sinners in the Jewish scorn; thereby is intended 'sinners
of the gentiles/ Gal. ii. 15, ' publicans and heathens,' Mat. xviii. 17 ;
because by reason of their calling they conversed often with gentiles.
Their calling was counted sordid ; hiring or farming the tributes. It
is an Hebrew proverb, Take not a wife out of a family in which is a
publican, because they are all thieves. They were wicked sinners in
common repute. Now for Christ to be entertained in the house of a
publican, and to converse so familiarly with publicans, this the phari-
saical strictness and rigorous institution could not endure. The cavil
was brought to his disciples and followers. They muttered and whis
pered about them words that tended to disprove this familiar converse,
as not becoming the person which Christ took upon himself. The oM
hypocrites deal not directly with the master himself, but the young
converts. Christ, when he heard it, vindicates his practice —
1. By representing the agreeableness of this converse to his office ;
represented in a proverb, ' The whole have no need of the physician,
but the sick.' Two things are herein represented —
[1.] That sin is a sore sickness; a disease not of the body, but the
soul. A mortal disease it will at length prove, unless it be in time
cured ; and the disease is the more grievous because we are so insensible
of it.
[2.] That Christ alone is the true physician of souls. He knoweth
our malady and our remedy, and is ready, and offereth his help to cure,
if we will but submit to his prescriptions. Now both make up his
argument : Where doth the physician's work lie but among the sick ?
2. From the end of his commission. ' I came not to call the right
eous, but sinners to repentance.' Where observe —
[1.] The persons with whom he hath to do, ' Not the righteous,
but sinners.'
[2.] The way that he taketh, ' He calleth.'
[3.] The end, or means of cure on their parts, ' Kepentance.'
SERMON UPON MARK II. 17.
fl.l The persons concerned.
(1) Negatively, 'Not the righteous.' A man may be righteous
really or putatively. Eeally there are none such before the tribunal of
God of the sons -of Adam. Either men must disclaim their stock
or own their guilt Putatively there are many such ; they have a con
ceit that they are righteous. The pharisees ' trusted in themselves
that they were righteous/ Luke xviii. 9. Now men puffed up with a
spiritual pride, and a vain opinion of their own goodness and right
eousness are altogether unfit to yield obedience to Christ s call, whereby
he calleth them out of their sins. They are so good and holy already,
they need no repentance. The heart-whole need not the physician ; he
hath no work to do among them. They have no need of his skill;
they do not value him, they care not for him.
(2.) Positively and affirmatively, ' But sinners. Those that are
really so, and so in their own opinion and estimation ; these Christ
calleth for ; these have work for him to do.
[2.] The way which he taketh for their cure, ' He calleth ; as a teacher
from heaven he thus acquainteth them with the way of their recovery.
Christ hath a double relation, for the discharge of which he came into
the world — as an high priest and apostle, Heb. iii. 1. Both agree in
this, that they concern our recovery, or the remedying -of our lapsed
estate ; and that for the discharge of both these offices he came into
the world. Both are the highest officer in both -churches : Luke xix.
10, ' The Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost ; '
1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a true -and faithful saying, that Jesus Christ
came to save sinners, of whom I am chief.' But they differ that the
work of the one office lieth with God, the other with man. The one
respects the reconciling God to us ; -so as an high priest he made our
peace with God by the merit of his sacrifice: Col. i. 20, 'By the blood
of his cross making peace.' The other concerneth the reconciling us
to God by the change of our hearts. This he manageth by a call and
invitation ; partly by himself in person, as a teacher from heaven dis
covering the way how we may get again into the favour of God, and be
restored to his service ; partly by his ministers, whom he employeth in
his stead: 2 Cor. v. 18-20, 'And all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given unto
us the ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, that God was in Christ, re
conciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now
then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God.' The
function and office, *X^cre&>? ei9 fterdvouiv, of calling men to repent
ance, belonged to his apostolical office, as a messenger sent from the
bosom of God to acquaint us with his heart, how he standeth affected
to our recovery. This latter is here spoken of. This he doth by
calling.
[3.] The work, or means of cure which he prescribeth, is ' Eepent-
ance. Our misery lay in sin, and we begin our happiness by repent
ance. Christ did not come to give liberty to any to live in sin ; this is
to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, Jude 4. As he came to
die for sinners and to save sinners, so he came to call sinners to
SERMON UPON MARK II. 17. 5
repentance; the one as a priest, the other as a king, the last as a
prophet.
' Doct. That the special business for which Christ was sent into the
world as the great teacher of the church, was to remedy the collapsed
state of sinners by calling them to repentance.
I shall prove three things — (1.) That we are all sinners in a lapsed
estate ; (2.) That he recovereth us out of this lapsed estate by calling
us ; (3.) The way or means is by repentance.
I. That his work lieth with sinners, when he interposed as a
mediator between God and men. This I shall discover in three
considerations —
1. That man is now in a lapsed or fallen estate from his primitive
integrity, and none are righteous till Christ calleth them. That men
are fallen from their primitive integrity, and become sinners, is a
truth evidenced by scripture and experience. Scripture : Kom. iii. 23,
' We have all sinned, and are come short of the glory of God ; ' that
is, his glorious image : 1 Cor. xi. 8, ' He is the image and glory of
God, as the woman is the glory of the man;' 2 Cor. iiL 18, 'But we
all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord ; ' that
for the term glory. So Eccles. vii. 29, ' God made man upright, but
he sought out many inventions.' Man, as he came out of God's hands,
was an holy and happy creature, created with a disposition which did
enable and incline him to love, please, and obey God; but Adam had
his inventions, and his posterity theirs. They would not be at God's
finding, but their own, and so plunged themselves in all manner of sin
and misery. Thus the sun that shone in the dawning of our creation
was soon eclipsed. But experience showeth us this as well as scripture :
there is a greater proneness in us to evil than to good, and a mani
fest disproportion in our faculties to things carnal and spiritual, and
this both universal and very early, which is a plain evidence of the
degeneration of mankind ; and from thence results, as all disorders in
conversation, so misery and death. Certainly if we did often and
seriously consider what a sinful womb we came from, how deformed
and ugly in the sight of God we came from it, how we began our life
with crying and weeping, and are all our days obnoxious to wrath and
condemnation, and, whatever hath been our portion in the world, yet
shortly we must die, and sink into the pit eternally, it would more
awaken us. In the general, this is enough to our purpose, that man
is in. a lapsed estate, under the guilt of sin and desert of punishment.
2. That out of this misery man is unable to deliver and recover
himself. Not able to reconcile or propitiate God to himself, or himself
to God ; not able to redeem himself, or give a sufficient ransom or
recompense to God's provoked justice : Ps. xlix. 8, ' For the redemp
tion of the soul is precious, and ceaseth for ever.' There is but one
way of coming to this, which is by the death of the Messiah. Not
able to change his own heart : Job xiv. 4, ' Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean ? not one.' All that we do savoureth of our
unclean original. We cannot cure and remedy this evil; otherwise
Christ needed not to have died for us. If man had been by other
means cured, the heavenly physician needed not come to save them.
It is denied to all the living.
6 SERMON UPON MARK II. 17.
3. Those who are sensible of this are nextly called ; not sinners as
sinners, but sensible sinners. Those that know themselves to be so ;
sensible sinners, who are willing to return to their obedience to God,
expecting their help and discharge from God's grace in Christ. It is
opposed to such as are righteous in their own eyes; such as do in
some measure feel their sins, are humbled for them, desirous to be
freed from them; lost sinners, broken-hearted, and grieved, and
wounded for their transgressions, these are respected in Christ's com
mission: Isa. Ixi. 1, 2, 'The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the
meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening the prison doors to them that are
bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.' Here is Christ's
calling to his ministry, and the exercise of his prophetical office de
scribed : Sent to preach the spiritual deliverance from sin and Satan.
But to whom? To such as are humbled,and thoroughly touched with
a lively sense of their sin ; for which purpose God maketh use of legal
sorrow to awaken sinners and prepare them before conversion.
II. That Christ recovereth us out of this lapsed estate by calling.
There is a twofold calling of Christ by which he calleth men — (1.)
Outward; (2.) Inward.
1. Outwardly, by the ministry of the word, by which he inviteth
men to come out of their sins, offering grace and salvation in the out
ward means. Thus John preached repentance : Mat. iii. 20, ' Kepent,
for the kingdom of God is at hand.' When the kingdom of grace was
about to be set up by the gospel, the great duty called for was repent
ance ; for the gospel findeth men involved in an evil way, like mad
men out of their wits, and they must return to their wits again if they
would be capable of it. Now they must change their course if they
will receive benefit by it. Thus John preached, and Jesus Christ
came with the same form of proclamation : Mark i. 15, ' The kingdom
of God is at hand ; repent and believe the gospel.' The great business
to which he called was to be willing to own the benefit offered by
Christ, and to return to the duty which they owed to their creator. So
his apostles, when sent abroad by him, spake to men in the same note :
Acts ii. 38, ' Eepent and be baptized every one of you, for the remis
sion of sins ; ' and Acts iii. 19, ' Repent, that your sins may be blotted
out.' They offered pardon and life upon these terms.
2. Inwardly, by the effectual working of the blessed Spirit, inclin
ing and moving their hearts to obey that outward calling in forsaking
their sins; and turning to the Lord by true repentance. We have
need of a Saviour to help us to repentance as well as to help us to par
don, and God hath exalted him to such an end : Acts iii. 26, ' God
having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away
every one of you from his iniquities ; ' Acts v. 31, ' Him hath God
exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour, to give
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.' He by the gospel giveth
leave to repent : Acts xi. 18, ' And when they heard these things, they
held their peace, and glorified God, saying, That then God also to the
gentiles granted repentance to life,' which is a great mercy. The law
doth not say, I will not the death of a sinner, but that he turn and
SERMON UPON MARK II. 17. 7
live ; but the Lord saith, Do and live, sin and die. This favour was
not vouchsafed to angels : Heb. ii. 16, ' For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels,' ov yap SrjTrov ayy&av 67n\ajji{3dveTai — he took
not hold of angels. That he giveth us space to repent, as well as leave ;
that by his providence he may do, and doth, to many that perish : Kev.
ii. 21, ' I gave her space to repent, and she repented not/ God is not
quick and severe upon every miscarriage. He might have cut us off
betimes, as we crush serpents in the egg, and destroy venomous
creatures when they are young. But this is not all ; he giveth grace
to repent, yea, repentance itself, whereby man's heart is changed. This
is by his Spirit : 2 Tim. ii. 25, ' If God peradventure will give them
repentance, to the acknowledging of the truth.' The evangelical call
carries its own blessing with it.
III. The means of application, or the duty on man's part, is repent
ance ; for to that he calleth them here.
Here let me show you these four things — (1.) What repentance
is ; (2.) The kinds of it ; (3.) That this is the way of our recovery ;
(4.) The suitableness of this qualification to the grace of the new
covenant.
1. What repentance is. It is turning of the whole heart from sin
and Satan to serve God in newness of life ; or a turning from sin
because God hath forbidden it, to that which is good because God
hath commanded it. There are in it, as in every action, two terms,
a quo and ad quern. We turn from something, and we turn to some
thing.
[1.] The terminus a quo ; we turn from something. From sin :
Acts viii. 22, ' Kepent of thy wickedness/ airo TT}? /ca/cta? ; from thy
wickedness, and ' from dead works,' Heb. vi. 1 ; from Satan. Satan
is sometimes made the term, because the sinner falleth to his share :
Acts xxvi. 18, ' To turn them from darkness to light, and from the
power of Satan to God.'
[2.] The terminus ad quern is to God, Acts xx. 21 ; to the truth :
2 Tim. ii. 25, et9 eTriyvaxriv a\f}deia<$, ' Kepentance to the acknow
ledgment of the truth ; ' to holiness and newness of life, Kom. vi.
4 ; to life : Acts xi. 18, ' Then hath God also to the gentiles granted
repentance unto life.'
2. The kinds of it. There is a general repentance, which consists in
the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, Col. ii. 11, when a
man renounceth all sin, and devoteth himself to God ; and there is a
particular repentance for any provoking sin : Acts viii. 22, ' Repent
and pray, that, if it be possible, the thought of thy heart may be for
given thee.' Again, there is a repentance at our first conversion,
which is our passing from death to life, or our entrance by the strait
gate, Mat. vii. 14 ; and there is a repentance afterwards, which be-
longeth to our walking in the narrow way; for after conversion we
need it still, and not in our natural estate only. It is not only
necessary for a sinner yet unregenerate, yet unreconciled to God,
without which he cannot expect any peace with God or benefit by the
new covenant, but also for a believer till his full and final recovery. This
repentance after conversion is either occasional or constant.
[1.] Occasional, after any offence given, or breach between us and
8 SERMON UPON MARK II. 17.
God, repentance is necessary to obtain pardon of sins after justifica
tion, as well as before it. God saith to the church of Ephesus, Eev.
ii. 5, ' Repent, and do thy first works.' So ver. 19, ' Whom I love I
rebuke and chasten ; be zealous therefore, and repent ; ' where repent
ance is put for a necessary means of removing God's rebuke and quarrel
from them whom he loveth. The promise is made to believers : 1
John i. 9, ' If we confess and forsake our sins, he is just and faithful to
forgive us our sins.' When he wrote to believers, he put himself in
the roll : * If we confess.' Experience of the saints confirmeth the
same : Ps. xxxii. 5, ' I acknowledged my sin unto thee.' God was
angry with Job's friends till they humbled themselves : Job xlii. 8.
Solomon beggeth pardon for the people of God on these terms : 1
Kings viii. 47, 48, ' Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land
whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication
unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We
have sinned and done perversely, we have committed wickedness ; and
so return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul, in the
land of their enemies which led them away captive, and pray unto
thee towards their land which thou gavest their fathers, the city which
thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name.'
The Lord assenteth to the articles : 2 Chron. vii. 13, 14, ' If I shut
up heaven that there be no rain, if my people shall humble themselves,
and pray, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from
heaven,' &c. God's children may fall into miscarriages whereby they
may displease God, though their persons be justified.
[2.] Constant. When we first begin with God, we bind ourselves
to forsake all known sin, and to live to God. In grown persons this
is confirmed by baptism. Our obligation continueth with our lives.
And therefore we must spend our whole time in repentance. And
our necessity inferreth it, as well as our obligation. Original corrup
tion remaineth with the regenerate, and we frequently feel the rebel
lions of the flesh : Rom. vii. 24, ' 0 wretched man that I am ! who
shall deliver me from this body of death ? ' So long as a man is a
sinner, he is called to repentance, and must use this means till his full
recovery. Besides, too, it is necessary with respect to our growth.
We must grow daily in humiliation and self-abhorrence, and reform
the errors of our ways more and more ; and therefore we must look
upon Christ still calling us to repentance, that, walking in a constant
mortifying of sin, he may still lead us to salvation. And by these
calls he more and more killeth and weakeneth corruption in us. There
fore as they said, because of the difficulties of the outward reformation,
Ezra x. 13, ' This is not a work of one day or two,' so inward repent
ance is not the work of one, but all our days.
3. That this is the way of our recovery, in order to the enjoyment of
the privileges of the new covenant. God and Christ agreed that
salvation should be dispensed upon these terms, and the whole frame
of the gospel is to invite sinners to repentance. God sent him to heal
the broken-hearted, Mat xi. 28. He interposed as mediator to make
way fqr this.
[1.] This appeareth by the doctrine of the covenant. He hath
made a covenant wherein he hath offered pardon and life to the
penitent believer : Luke xxiv. 47, ' And that repentance and remission
SERMON UPON MARK II. 17. 9
of sins should be preached in his name to all nations ;' with Mark xvi.
6, ' He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' Kepentance
putteth us within the reach of the promise, which speaketh pardon to
none but those which repent. Some dispute whether it be an equal
condition with faith. It is as necessary ; but faith hath its special use
for some respects. As repentance is a return to the love and obedience
of our God, so faith is a thankful acceptance of the benefit of our
Redeemer: Acts xx. 21, 'Repentance towards God, and faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ.' The closing act is faith or acceptance of Christ,
yet the person must be penitent. As in marriage, the hearing of the
proposal, believing what is heard, the liking the party, living in con
jugal society, are terms, but the solemn taking one another is the
nuptial knot ; so here, consent to take Christ is the closing act of faith,
and then there must be a living in obedience afterward.
[2.] The sacraments or seals of the covenant bind to it. Baptism
implieth it : Mat. iii. 11, ' I baptize you with water unto repent
ance ; ' that is, to seal up the covenant of repentance, whereby the
party baptized is obliged to his duty, and hath the promise of God to
supply us with grace to repent. The Lord's supper also binds to it.
The main benefit there offered is remission of sins, Mat. xxvi. 28,
which cannot be had without repentance. We are bound in baptism,
but men forget that they were purged from their old sins. There
fore earnest resolutions against sin need often to be renewed, lest we
become cold and remiss in them ; therefore a special repentance is
required before we come to the Lord's table.
4. The suitableness of the qualification.
[1.] It is much for the honour of God. Christ hath purchased the
effects of his grace, to be communicated to us in a way becoming his
wisdom as well as his justice. Now it would not be for the glory of
God, nor preserve his law and government, if we should be pardoned
without submissive confession of past sins, or a resolution of future
obedience. Common reason will tell us that our case is not com-
passionable without it. Who will pity those in misery that are
unwilling to come out of it ? Repentance is called a giving glory to
God : Mai. ii. 2, ' I will curse your blessings, because ye will not lay
it to heart, and give glory to my name ; ' Josh. vii. 14, ' My son,
give glory to the God of Israel, and make confession to him ; ' Rev.
xvi. 9, ' They repented not to give glory to God.' Repentance repaireth
God in point of honour, giveth him the glory of the justness of his
laws and providence. The self-condemning sinner subscribeth to all
this ; therefore it is suitable to the wisdom of God that a penitent
sinner should have pardon rather than an impenitent, or one that con-
tinueth securely in his sins, and despiseth both the curse of the law
and the grace of the gospel.
[2.] The duty of the creature is secured when he is so firmly bound
unto future obedience. Therefore surely a converting repentance is
the fittest condition, such as may induce a hatred of sin repented of,
and a love to God and holiness. Now our first hearty consent for the
future to live in the love, obedience, and service of our creator, with
a detestation of our former ways, is most conducible to this end ;
besides the obligation of the vow itself, or bond of the holy oath into
10 SERMON UPON MARK II. 17.
which they are entered, and the circumstances accompanying it,
because this vow and promise is made partly in our anguish, when we
feel the smart of sin, then for the soul to resign itself to God : Acts
ix. 6, ' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' And partly when we
are in the deepest and freshest sense of his pardoning mercy, when we
see at how dear a rate he is content to save us, and upon what free
terms to pardon all our wrongs ; surely they that are brought back
from the grave, and fetched up from the gates of hell, and from under
a sentence of condemnation, will be engaged more to love God : Ps.
cxxx. 4, 'But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou shouldst
be feared.' The woman loved much who had much forgiven her,
Luke vii. 47.
[3.] It is most for the comfort of the creature that a stated certain
course or remedy should be appointed for our peace, which may leave
the greatest evidence upon our consciences. Now what is likely to do
so much as this first and apparent change, whereby we utterly renounce,
and bitterly bewail, our former folly, and solemnly give up ourselves to
God by Christ ? Things are evident to the feeling which are serious,
advised, difficult, have a notable delight accompanying them ; all
which concur here. This is the most important action of our lives, the
settling of our pardon and eternal interest ; a sense of sin, if deep and
thorough, will ever stick with us. The heart is hardly brought to this,
to submit to God's appointed course : Kom. x. 3, ' For they being igno
rant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.' And
it is rewarded with some notable tastes of God's love ; for he ' reviveth
the hearts of his contrite ones,' Isa. Ivii. 15, and ' restoreth comfort to
his mourners/ ver. 17.
Use.^ Let us obey Christ, and continually carry on the work of repent
ance with more seriousness. Sin is not hated enough, nor God loved
enough, and therefore we have so small a taste of the comforts of
Christianity. Groans unutterable make way for joys that are unspeak
able.
Motives.
1. The unquestionable necessity of the duty should move us. Christ's
authority is absolute. He telleth us, ' I came to call sinners to repent-
tance.' If he saith so, contradiction must be silent, hesitation satisfied,
all cavils laid aside, and we must address ourselves to his work, and
never cease till we are past repentance, and that is only when we have
no more sin in us, which will never be till we die.
2. The profit should move. It is a duty of great use. By repent
ance we are put into a capacity to serve and please God; for new
creatures are set in joint again, who were disordered by the fall Eph
11. 10; and Titus iii. 5; 2 Tim. ii. 2; and by it we are put into a
capacity to enjoy God: Acts xxvi. 18, 'To open their eyes, and turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.'
3. Nothing can be excepted against this course. (1.) The plea of
unworthmess hath no place. It is not the applying a privilege, but
the performance of a duty we invite you to. If we did directly call
you to accept a pardon, you might question our doctrine. Perhaps
you may think you are unworthy to be pardoned, but God is worthy to
SERMON UPON MARK II. 17. 11
be obeyed. Christ calleth you to repentance. (2.) You cannot object
the greatness of your sins. Did Christ come from heaven only to
cure a cut finger, and not a deadly wound ? He calleth sinners, and
sinners without exception ; sinners of all sorts and sizes. This thought
often cometh into our mind, that Christ is a saviour, but not of those
who are fallen into such heinous and enormous offences as we have
done ; as if any disease were beyond the skill of the spiritual physician ;
as if he could cure a cold or a slight ague, but not the leprosy and the
plague. All sinners are called.
4. The plea of weakness doth not lie against the duty neither ; for
' he calleth the things that are not as though they were,' Eom. iv. 17 ;
1 Lazarus, come forth,' John xi. 47. Why doth he speak to a dead
man ? So to the man with the withered hand, ' Stretch forth thy hand,'
Mat. xii. 13. Do not say, Lord, this I cannot do. No ; go forth in
the strength of Christ's call. He calleth not only by the ministry of
the word, but the inward operation of his Spirit.
Now for means,
1. Examine thiae own heart to find out thy particular sins : Ps.
cxix. 59, ' I thought on my ways, and turned my feet into thy testi
monies ; ' Lam. iii. 40, ' Search and try your ways, and turn to the
Lord.' Kepentance usually beginneth with serious soul-searching;
otherwise we spend our indignation upon a notion. Particulars are
most affecting. Sin is the common packhorse to bear every man's
burden ; but sin must be particularly confessed, forsaken, and morti
fied, that it may be pardoned.
2. Labour to work thy heart to godly sorrow for them : Lam. iii.
20, ' My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled within
me.' We should humble ourselves greatly: Job xlii. 6, ' I repent and
abhor myself ha dust and ashes ; ' Mat. xi. 21, ' Repented in dust and
ashes.' This is spoken according to their national customs. Men
most abased are most serious. But our repentance generally is not
deep and serious enough, so as will become offences and dishonours
done to God by such weak creatures as we are, and so deeply engaged
to him. There is not that self-loathing, nor such a measure of godly
sorrow, as may either make Christ sweet or sin bitter to us. If it
affect the heart so as sin becometh hateful, and there is a price and
value put upon God's grace in Christ, then it is right. Oh ! therefore,
bemoan yourselves to God as Ephraim did, Jer. xxxi. 18.
3. Lay them open before God in humble confession : 1 John i. 9,
' If we confess sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins ; '
Jer. iii. 13, ' Only acknowledge thine iniquities, that thou hast trans
gressed against the Lord thy God ; ' and set apart some special time
to do it.
4. Crave and sue earnestly for the pardon of them in Christ's name
and for Christ's sake : Eph. iv. 32, ' As God for Christ's sake hath for
given you ; ' 1 John ii. 12, ' I write unto you, little children, because
your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.' All benefits must be
asked in his name ; much more this, which is the great fruit of his
redemption. God himself has taught us to pray for pardon, and to
say, c Take away all iniquity,' Hosea xiv. 4. And take the sacramental
pledges out of God's hand for this end.
12 SERMON UPON MARK II. 17.
5. There must be an unfeigned purpose and endeavour to forsake
them : Prov. xxviii. 13, 'He that covereth his sins shall not prosper,
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy ; ' Ezek. iii.
11, 'As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye,
turn ye, for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel ? ' Hosea xiv. 8,
' Ephraiin shall say, What have I to do any more with idols ? ' Isa.
xxx. 22, ' Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of
silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold ; thou shalt
cast them away as a menstruous cloth ; thou shalt say unto it, Get
thee hence/
SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength
because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and
avenger. — Ps. viii. 2.
THE scope of this psalm is to glorify God for the singular dignity he
hath put upon man above all his works. The expressions literally
and apparently refer to God's works of creation and providence about
him ; but in a divine and more spiritual sense tbe mysteries of redemp
tion are intended, and secretly couched under them, as appeareth by
the frequent quotations of this psalm in the New Testament.
There is a double honour put upon mankind —
1. That God hath ordained man, that feeble and weak creature, to
subdue and conquer his enemies.
2. That God hath made him lord of all his other creatures ; both
which concern not only man in general, but especially Jesus Christ,
God made man, and therefore both are applied to him. The first
•when the children welcome him with the acclamations proper to the
Messiah: Mat. xxi. 15,16, ' When the chief priests and scribes saw
the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the
temple, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased, and
said unto him, Hearest thou what these say ? and Jesus saith unto
them, Yea ; have ye never read, Out of the mouths of babes and
sucklings thou hast perfected praise ? ' The other in many places,
especially Heb. ii. 6-8, ' But one in a certain place testified, saying,
What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? or the son of man, that
thou visitest him ? Thou hast made him little lower than the angels ;
thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over
the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things in subjection under
his feet : for in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing
that is not put under him.' So that man is both his champion and
his deputy. He is his deputy : ver. 6, * Thou hast made him to have
dominion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things under
his feet/ His champion, in the text: 'Out of the mouths of babes
and sucklings hast thou ordained strength/ &c.
In explaining these words, I shall inquire — (1.) Who are these
babes and sucklings ? (2.) Who is the enemy and avenger ? (3.)
What is the miracle and wonder that raised the prophet's admiration,
and moved him to praise God for this ?
I. Who are these babes .and sucklings ?
14 SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
1. Man in general, \vho springeth from so weak and poor a begin
ning as that of babes and sucklings, yet is at length advanced to such
power as to grapple with and overcome the enemy and the avenger. ^
2. David in particular, who being but a ruddy youth, God used him
as an instrument to discomfit Goliah of Gath.
3. More especially our Lord Jesus Christ, who assuming our nature
and all the sinless infirmities of it, and submitting to the weakness of
an infant, and after dying, is gone in the same nature to reign in
heaven, till he hath brought all his enemies under his feet, Ps. ex. 1 ;
and 1 Cor. xv. 27, ' For he hath put all things under his feet ; but
when he saith he hath put all things under him, it is manifest that he
is excepted which did put all things under him.' Then was our
human nature exalted above all other creatures, when the Son of God
was made of a woman, carried in the womb as long a time as other
infants are, Luke ii. 6 ; sucked as a babe, and afterwards died, and
was received unto glory.
4. The apostles, who to outward appearance were despicable, in a
manner children and sucklings in comparison of the great ones of the
world, poor despised creatures, yet principal instruments of God's ser
vice and glory. Therefore it is notable that when Christ glorifieth his
Father for the wise and free dispensation of his saving grace, Mat. xi.
25, he saith, ' I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid those things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes;' so called from the meanness of their condition.
Compare the parallel places, Luke x. 21, and you shall see it was
spoken when the disciples were sent abroad, and had power given
them over unclean spirits : ' In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and
said, I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes.' This he acknowledged to be an act of infinite condescen
sion in God.
5. Those children that cried hosanna to Christ make up part of the
sense, Mat. xxi. 16 ; for Christ defendeth their practice by this scripture,
when he was condemned by the wisest and greatest and proudest men
in the world, such as were the scribes and pharisees at that time,
he was praised and welcomed as the Messiah or son of David by the
children.
6. Not only the apostles, but all those that fight under Christ's ban
ner and are lifted into his confederacy may be called babes and suck
lings — (1.) Because of their condition ; (2.) Their disposition.
P.] Because of their condition. God is pleased often to make choice
of the meanest and lowest : 1 Cor. i. 27, 28, ' But God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty ; and the base things of the world, and things which are
despised, hath God chosen ; yea, and things which are not, to bring to
nought things that are ; ' that is, God in the government of the world
is pleased to subdue the enemies of his kingdom by weak and despised
instruments.
[2.] Because of their disposition ; they are most humble spirited.
We are told, Mat. xviiL 3, ' Except ye be converted, and become as
SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2. 15
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God.' As if he
had said, you strive for pre-eminence and worldly greatness in my
kingdom ; I tell you my kingdom is a kingdom of babes, and con-
taineth none but the humble, and such as are little in their own eyes,
and are contented to be small and despised in the eyes of others, and so
do not seek after great matters in the world. A young child knoweth
not what striving or state meaneth ; and therefore, by an emblem and
visible representation of a child set in the midst of them, Christ would
take them off from the expectation of a carnal kingdom.
II. Who is the enemy and the avenger ? In the letter Goliath, in
the mystery the devil and his agents and instruments. He is 6 e^dpof,
the enemy of God and man : Mat. xiii. 39, ' The enemy that
soweth them is the devil ;' and with him all the seed of the serpent,
Gen. iii. 15. These are wicked men : John viii. 44, ' For ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do ; ' 1 John
iv. 4, ' Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because
greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.' The war is
carried on between two heads and two seeds.
III. What is the miracle and wonder that raised the heart of the
psalmist to praise God ? It lieth in three things — (1.) That God hath
ordained strength ; (2.) That this lieth in their mouth ; (3.) That this
strength is sufficient to still the enemy and the avenger.
1. That there is strength in such weak creatures. Christ himself to
outward appearance was a mean and despicable person, scorned, scourged,
crucified, yet made perfect through sufferings, and crowned with glory
and honour : Heb. ii. 9, 10, ' But we see Jesus, who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honour, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every
man. For it became him, for whom are all things, a-nd by whom are
all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of our
salvation perfect through sufferings.' And he hath strength enough
to remove the impediments of our salvation, and doth powerfully
conquer and subdue all his and our enemies. Christians are in them
selves weak creatures, but there is strength ordained for them to do
and suffer all things that belong to their duty, or may befall them in
the way of their duty. As Phil. iv. 13, ' I can do all things through
Christ that strengthened me,' and 'When I am weak, then am I
strong,' 1 Cor. xii. 10. And this strength is said to be ' ordained,' or
' founded,' because it standeth upon a good foundation, the everlasting
merit of the Son of God, who came out from God's bosom to reduce
and call us to the dignity of his servants. The angels, those glorious
creatures, when they fell by pride, were never restored, but are be
come the enemies of God and mankind. They usurped the honour
due to God, and plunged man into their apostasy, but God hath
ordained strength to recover man out of this thraldom, and vindicate
his own glory, that mankind might not be wholly lost to him, Col. ii.
15, 'Having spoiled principalities and powers,' that is, spoiled them of
their prey, on his cross. And afterwards by the power of his grace
rescueth man : Col. i. 13, ' Who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.'
2. That this strength cometh out of the mouth ; that is, it is not
16 SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
by the power of the long sword, or by visible force and might, but by
the breath of his mouth ; that is to say—
[1.] By the word preached. Therefore it is said that he shall
consume antichrist by the breath of his mouth, 2 Thes. ii. 8 ; and
Kev. xix. 15, ' Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, wherewith he
should smite the nations ; ' and Isa. xi. 4, ' He shall smite the earth
with the rod of his mouth/ that is, subdue and vanquish opposition
by his wonderful word ; therefore the word is called ' the rod of his
strength,' Ps. ex. 2.
[2.] By confessing his name: Bom. x. 9, 10, 'If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is
made to salvation.' And this is one means of conviction, especially
when this confession is accompanied with self-denial : Eev. xii. 11,
' They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their
testimony ; not loving their lives to the death.' This bold confession
is the fruit both of the word preached, and the spirit of faith given to
them, 2 Cor. iv. 13, and also of Christ's actual assistance : Luke xxi.
15, 'I will give you a mouth and wisdom which your adversaries
shall not be able to gainsay.' Now that by such means the kingdom
of sin, Satan, and antichrist should be ruined in the world, this is
and should be matter of admiration and praise.
[3. J The effect, to ' still the enemy and the avenger ; ' either by brid
ling their rage : Ps. Ixxvi. 10, ' Surely the wrath of man shall praise
thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain ; ' or silencing their
contradiction: Acts vi. 10, 'They were not able to resist the wisdom
and spirit by which he spake ; ' Acts viii. 13, ' Simon wondered, be
holding the signs and miracles that were done;' or changing their
hearts, as Paul's, Acts ix. 6, and making him to be instrumental in
changing others, Acts xxvi. 18, and determining interests, that the
church hath liberty and opportunity to worship God : Acts ix. 31,
'Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and
Samaria, and were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the
comforts of the Holy Ghost.' Nay, the kingdom of Satan and his
adherents plainly and apparently goeth to wreck. The devil, that
proud and rebellious enemy of God and goodness, is by this means
subdued and brought down ; first cast out of a great part of his king
dom in men's hearts, none but obdurate sinners being left to him:
John xii. 31, 32, ' Now is the judgment of this world, now is the prince
of this world cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me ; ' that is, the kingdom of Satan shall be de
stroyed, and a great part of the world brought to believe in me. And
at last he shall be utterly confounded and destroyed : 1 Cor. xv. 24-27,
' He hath put all things under his feet ; ' all enemies, not one excepted,
but shall be subdued to Christ.
Doct. That victory over Satan in our nature is matter of great praise
and thankfulness to God, that the same nature that was lately foiled
should yet be victorious.
1. I take this for granted, that Satan is the enemy and avenger;
for the text speaks of an enemy and enemies, one chief ; for so the
SEKMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2. 17
devil is said to be, Mat. xiii. 39, ' The enemy that soweth them is the
devil.' He is an enemy to God and man. To God, as he affected
and usurped divine honour, and for his pride was cast out of heaven
into the torments of hell ; falling by pride is therefore called the con
demnation of the devil, 1 Tim. iii. 6, so James iii. 15, ' Sensual, earthly,
devilish.' The glorious condition in which he was created tempted
him to aspire higher than he was ; and all ambition is devilish wisdom,
called so from his sin. Also he is an enemy to mankind, because by
his temptation came our fall and misery, and therefore lie is said to
be a murderer from the beginning. A malicious, proud, and bloody
murderer of soul and body, and still he seeketh our destruction : 1
.Peter v. 8, ' The devil like a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom
he may devour.' In the text he is not only called the enemy and the
avenger, but ' thine enemies.' The word ' thine ' showeth that he is
an enemy to God, and all goodness, and all good men who belong to
God. And the plural expression, ' enemies,' noteth either the multi
tude of evil spirits who are with Satan, and are set to ruin mankind,
or those their confederate party in the world, who are also many, and
usually great and powerful. For the conflict is not only between the
chiefs, but also the instruments on either side ; between Satan on the
one side, the head and father of the wicked, and Christ on the other,
the captain of our salvation, Heb. ii. 10 ; or between the seed of the
woman and the seed of the serpent : Gen. jii. 15, ' I will put enmity
between thy seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head, and thou
Bhalt bruise his heel.' The seeds are concerned in this enmity as well
as the chiefs.
2. The nature of this enmity. It is double; as on Satan's part,
both of nature and design, so on Christ's part, both of nature and
office.
[1.] There is a perfect enmity between the nature of Christ and
the nature of the devil. The nature of Satan is sinful, murderous,
and destructive, for it is said he was a liar and murderer from the
beginning, as before. So 1 John iii. 8, ' He that committeth sin is
from the devil, and the devil sinneth from the beginning;' ver. 12,
' Cain was of that wicked one who slew his brother.' It is the devil's
work to do all the hurt and mischief that he can to the bodies and
souls of men, but the nature of Christ is quite contrary. It is his
work to do good, and only good : Acts x. 38, ' God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing
good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was
with him.' Christ did nothing by way of malice and revenge; he
used not the power that he had to make men blind, or lame, or to kill
any ; no, not his worst enemies ; but he went up and down doing
good, giving sight to the blind, limbs to the lame, health to the sick,
life to the dead ; he rebuked his disciples when they called for fire
from heaven to consume those that despised them, telling them they
knew not what spirit they were of, Luke ix. 55, 56. No; all his
miracles were acts of relief and succour, not pompous and destructive ;
bating only the blasting of the unfruitful fig-tree, which was an
emblematical warning to the Jews, and his permitting the devil to
enter into the herd of swine, which was a necessary demonstration of
VOL. XVIII. B
18 SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
the devil's malice and destructive cruelty, who, if he could not afflict
men, would destroy swine.
[2.] An enmity of design; for Christ came to destroy the works
of the devil, 1 John iii. 8, as the devil seeketh to oppose the kingdom
of Christ. Christ was set up to dissolve that sin and misery which
Satan had brought upon the world ; and the devil sought to keep it
up and hinder our salvation. The devil is the disturber of the
creation, and Christ the repairer of it ; and these two, salvation and
destruction, are perfectly opposite.
Now such an enmity as there is between Christ and Satan, such
there is also between the confederates on either side.
(1.) An enmity or contrariety of nature. The seed of the serpent
inherits his venomous qualities ; for as they are an estate opposite to
God, so they are to the people of God. All people of a false religion,
whether infidels, or idolaters, or heretics, are of bloody and desperate
principles, partly by the influence of their great guide and leader,
partly because their false religion efferateth their minds, and stirreth
them up into a blind, bitter zeal : ' These go in the way of Cain/ Jude
11. On the other side, Christ conveyeth his holy, meek, ^ and lamb
like nature to his sincere worshippers and followers. Their righteous
souls are vexed indeed with the impure conversations of the wicked,
but so as to stir them up, not to passion, but compassion. They are
grieved to see people go by droves to hell, and would fain rescue them
out of the snares of the devil, but aim not at their destruction : Jude
22, 23, ' And of some have compassion, making a difference ; and
others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire ; hating even the
garment spotted with the flesh.' i . •
(2.) There is an enmity of design, seeking to pull down what Satan
would set up, all that sin, idolatry, error, and superstition whereby the
world is corrupted : 2 Cor. x. 4, 5, ' For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong
holds, and casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into cap
tivity every thought to the obedience of Christ ; ' that is, to bring down
all the disputings and reasonings and prejudices which are raised
up against the power of the gospel, and hinder the acknowledgment
and practice of the truth. Satan's end is to draw men into sin and
damnation, and to dishonour God; theirs, to glorify God in the
world, and save their own souls, and the souls of all about them.
3. This enmity of Satan and his instruments is carried On, both
against Christ and his people, with much rage and fury : ' I will put
enmity between thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel,' Gen. iii. 15. There is something common to both ;
for the word ' bruised' is used mutually both of the seed of the woman
and the seed of the serpent. In this war, as usually in all other, there
are wounds given on both sides. The devil bruiseth Christ, and
Christ bruiseth Satan ; only Christ's heel is bruised, but the devil's
head is crushed ; that is, he is finally destroyed.
[1.] Certain it is that Christ himself was bruised in the enterprise
of redeeming poor captive souls, which showeth how much we should
value our salvation, since it cost so dear. The Lord Jesus thought
SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2. 19
not his whole humiliation from first to last too much, nor any price
top dear, for overthrowing the devil's kingdom, and rescuing us into the
liberty of God's children. But how was he bruised by the serpent ?
Certain it is on the one side that Christ's sufferings were the effects of
man's sin, and a demonstration of God's holiness and governing justice.
Therefore it is said, Isa. liii. 10, 11, ' It pleased the Father to bruise
him.' Unless it had pleased the Lord to bruise him, Satan could never
have bruised him. But, on the other side, they were also the effects
of the malice and rage of the devil and his instruments. In his whole
life he was tempted by Satan, often vexed with his instruments. There
fore he saith, ' Ye are of your father the devil.' But the closing stroke
was at his death, Satan then doing the worst he could against him.
When Judas contrived the plot, it is said the devil entered into him,
Luke xxii. 3. When the high priest's servants came to take him,
ver. 53, he telleth them, ' This is your hour, and the power of dark
ness.' They did prevail at last to cause his shameful death ; this was
all they could do ; this was the time the devil and they were permitted
to work their wills upon him.
[2.] No Christians are exempted from trials of their sincerity. God
will have all obedience to be tried and honoured by opposition, and
sometimes by grievous and sharp opposition : Kev. ii. 10, ' The devil
shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried.' Thus Job
was permitted to be vexed by Satan for his trial, Job i. 12 ; and Paul
had his messenger of Satan to try him, to see what shift he could make
with sufficient internal grace against outward and vexatious evils,.
2 Cor. xii. 7, 8. Now it is better to undergo the fiery trial than the fiery
torment. Tried we are then, but not destroyed ; yea, sometimes hurried
to death, and yet we overcome, Kev. xii. 11. Christ doth prevail upon
opposition and by opposition. When Satan's instruments were killing
Christians, they were pulling down Satan's throne and advancing
Christ's; and when they were butchered and slaughtered, yet they
multiplied.
4. The means and manner of victory is to be considered.
[1.] Christ overcometh this enmity by taking our nature. He
might have destroyed him by his divine power, but the conquerer is
the seed of the woman, or the Son of God incarnate. He conquered
in the same nature that was so lately foiled, and thereby Satan's main
design is crossed and counter-worked, which was double — partly to
make man jealous of God, as if he were envious of our happiness, and
by this false representation to alienate our hearts, and make a breach
between us and him : Gen. iii. 5, ' God knoweth that in the day ye eat
thereof ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' This way would
he weaken the esteem of God in our hearts ; but hereby we have a
fuller manifestation of his love to make him the more amiable to us :
Rom. v. 8, ' But God commended his love to us, that when we were
sinners, Christ died for us ;' and John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world,
that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life ; ' and 1 John iv. 9, 10, ' In
this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent
his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him :
herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
20 SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.' We would be as God, and
Christ would be as man. Partly to depress the nature of man, which
in innocency stood so near to God ; that was the end of his malicious
suggestion. But now it is advanced, and set up far above the angelical
nature, and admitted to dwell with God In a personal union : Heb. ii.
16, ' For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took
on him the seed of Abraham.' The nature of man being only assumed
by Christ, the angels are not concerned in it immediately. Man had
the benefit and honour put upon him, especially in his glorified estate,
Eph. i. 20, 21.
[2.] By his passion or death on the cross : Heb. ii. 14, ' Forasmuch
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil.' Christ would not only take
our nature, but also suffer in it, so to frustrate and make void the
devil's design, which was to keep men for ever under the power of death,
wherein he had involved him. He had brought sin upon us, and by
sin, death, and in this condition, as the executioner of God's curse, he
would still have held us, but that Christ came to put us into a condi
tion of holiness and happiness, and so make us capable of eternal life.
The devil did not conquer Christ by death, but Christ did conquer the
devil. When the Koman soldiers were parting and spoiling his garments,
he was spoiling principalities and powers.
[3.] By his resurrection and ascension. After he had been a sacri
fice for sin, by his resurrection he overcame death, hell, and sin, and
soon after he ascended into heaven, that he might triumph over the
devil, and lead captivity captive, Eph. iv. 8. His enemies were foiled
upon the cross, but his triumph over them was at his ascension, where
by he hath assured the world of his conquest, that he hath carried the
day, and gained an absolute and complete victory ; for our Lord in
heaven is out of the reach of enemies, as having done his work ; we
are only left behind to scatter the relics of the battle.
[4.] By his sitting at the right hand of God he doth two things —
(1.) He poureth out the Spirit, endowing his messengers with all gifts
and graces, ordinary and extraordinary, to preach the gospel to the
heathen world, whereby the old religion by which the devil's kingdom
was supported went to wreck everywhere ; his oracles were silenced,
his superstitions suppressed ; no more the same temples, the same rites,
the same gods ; all fell before God as worshipped in Christ : John
xvi. 11, ' The Spirit shall convince the world of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged.' It is true, in- some parts of the world
Satan yet reigneth, where Christ hath not pursued him with his gospel,
or withdrawn his gospel for the ingratitude of men ; but where it
cometh, it prevaileth mightily, and the world cannot resist its convin
cing power.
[5.] By his secret and invisible providence he defendeth his people,
and stilleth the enemy and avenger. Christ, as God incarnate, having
the grant of a kingdom, is every way furnished with power to maintain
it by means proper to the mediatory dispensation; by his word,
Spirit, and providence. This last we are upon. All judgment is put
into his hands, John v. 22. Though there be many vicissitudes and
SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2. 21
changes in the outward condition of the church, yet by invisible ways
God doth notably defeat Satan and his instruments. And though
there be ebbings and flowings of the two kingdoms, yet we have much
experience that Christ is upon the throne, by his protecting, strengthen
ing, and assisting his faithful people, and prospering their just
endeavours for the advancing of his kingdom. Sometimes he destroyeth
enemies : Isa. xxvii. 4, ' Who would set the briars and thorns against
me in battle, I would go through them, and burn them together.'
Sometimes he infatuateth their counsels : Job v. 12, 13, ' He dis-
appointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot per
form their enterprise. He taketh the wise in his own craftiness, and
the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.' Sometimes he hideth
his people in the secret of his presence, Ps. xxxi. 20. Sometimes he
blasts all their prosperity by an invisible curse : Job xx. 26, ' A fire
not blown shall consume them.' Or else he divides them, as you may
read in 2 Chron. xx.
5. The degree of the success. How far is the enemy and avenger
stilled ? I answer —
[1.] Non ratione essentice ; not to take away his life and being.
No ; there is a devil still, and shall be when the whole work of Christ's
redemption is finished ; for it is said of that time, Bev. xx. 10, ' That
the devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast
and the false prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and
for ever.' So Mat. xxv. 41, ' Hell was prepared for the devil and his
angels.' Then eternal judgment is executed on the head of the wicked
state. Sentence was passed before, and the devil feareth it : Mat. viii. 29,
' Art thou come to torment us before the time ? ' He was condemned
before, but then the sentence is fully executed upon him ; he is finally
punished, and shall for ever remain among the damned.
[2.] Non ratione malitice, not in regard of malice and enmity, for
the enmity ever continueth between the two seeds, and Satan will ever
be doing, though it be to his loss : 1 John iii. 8, ' He sinneth from
the beginning ; ' and therefore he is not so destroyed as if he desired
not the ruin and destruction of men. He is as malicious as ever. He
is always at the old trade of destroying souls, and watcheth all advan
tages to that end and purpose : 2 Peter v. 8, ' The devil like a roaring
lion goeth about seeking whom he may devour.'
[3.] Then affirmatively, it remaineth that it is ratione potentice, in
regard of power. But how far is his power destroyed ? for still he
governeth the wicked, and possesseth a great part of the world. The
devils are called, Eph. vi. 12, ' ^Rulers of the darkness of this world ;'
the gods of the heathen, idolatrous, superstitious world. And still he
molesteth the godly, whether considered singly and apart, or in their
communities and societies. Singly he may sometimes trouble them,
and sorely shake them, as wheat is tossed to and fro when it is win
nowed in a sieve, Luke xxii. 31 ; or in their communities and societies
the devil by his instruments may sorely distress them: Ps. cxxix. 1, 2,
' Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth upward ; ' that is,
from the beginning of their being a people unto God ; or else corrupts
them : 1 Cor. xi. 3, ' I fear lest by any means Satan should corrupt
you ; ' and therefore we must see how far his power is destroyed.
22 SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
I answer— It may be considered either (1.) With respect to Christ,
the author of our deliverance ; or, (2.) With respect to men, who are
the subjects of this deliverance, or the persons delivered.
First, With respect to Christ our deliverer.
1. There is enough done by way of merit to break the power of
Satan, or that whole kingdom of darkness which is united under one
head, called the devil. The price and ransom is fully paid for captive
souls, and there needeth no more to be done by way of merit and
satisfaction to dissolve that woful work which Satan hath introduced
into the world : Col. ii. 15, ' He hath spoiled principalities and powers,
triumphing over them on his cross ; ' 1 John iii. 8, ' For this purpose
the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of
the devil.' Both these places show there is enough done for the
benefit of particular believers, and for the success of the gospel over
false religions. He hath divested evil spirits of their power, thrown
them out of their temples, silenced their oracles; he hath made it
publicly discernible by the success of the Christian religion in the
world ; he hath purchased the power of recovering souls out of their
apostasy at a dear rate : 1 Peter i. 18, ' We are not redeemed with
corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of the Son of God.' Well, then, the value of the blood of Christ
is sufficient.
2. Christ is upon the thronef and we are under his protection ;
therefore the devil cannot totally prevail over those that have an in
terest in him, either as to single believers : John x. 28, ' And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
pluck them out of my hand ; ' or to their communities and societies :
Mat. xvi. 18, 'Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.' The gates of hell signify their
power and policy; there was their armoury, and there they sat in
council. Christ expecteth their most fierce and furious assaults, but
all should be to no purpose, but as the dashing of the waves against a
rock, which ends in foam, and the shame of the oppressors and assail
ants. So that besides . his merit on the cross, there is his power in
heaven, where he is to rule in the midst of his adversaries : Ps. ex. 1,
' Sit at my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.' There he
is exalted, in that human nature which he had assumed, to the highest
pitch of glory, majesty, and authority.
3. Though there be not a total destruction of the kingdom of
Satan, yet it remaineth in an absolute subjection to the throne of the
mediator. The kingdom of sin and Satan are so far destroyed, as not
to hinder God's great design, the demonstration of mercy to the elect,
and to be subservient to the demonstration of his justice towards others,
who either contemn or neglect the remedy offered ; that the elect
may obtain, though the rest be hardened : 2 Thes. ii. 9, 13, ' Even him
whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs,
and lying wonders,' &c. But we are bound to give thanks always to
God for you, brethren, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the
truth.'
4. Christ will in time destroy all opposite reigns and kingdoms,
SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2. 23
some sooner, others later ; but there will be an universal and absolute
subjection to Christ at the day of judgment, when infernal spirits
shall bow the knee to him : Isa. xlv. 23, compared with Phil. ii. 10,
' He hath given him a name above every name, that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow ; ' and Eom. xiv. 10, 11. The mystery
of iniquity will then be finished, and come to nothing ; and the saints
shall judge the evil angels, 1 Cor. vi. 3 ; that is, when they are
crowned, they shall pass sentence against the evil spirits. But in the
meantime you will say, We are assaulted. Therefore —
Secondly, With respect to men who are to be delivered, so Satan's
power may be considered with respect to single persons, or his interest
in the corrupt world.
1. As to single and individual persons ; so Satan's power over them
is by reason of sin, which was introduced into the world by his subtlety
and malice. Now these may be considered with respect to conversion
and confirmation.
[1.] Conversion. When the reign of sin is broken, they are rescued
out of Satan's hands : Col. i. 13, ' Who hath delivered us from the
power of Satan, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son ; '
and Acts xxvi. 18, ' To turn us from darkness to light, and from the
power of Satan to God;' Luke xi. 22, 'When a stronger than he
shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his
armour wherein he trusted.' It is the fruit of his victorious grace.
As long as sin reigneth, Satan is in peaceable possession ; for when he
had lost his seat in heaven, he affected to set up a throne in the
hearts of men, and to lord it over them as his slaves ; but now the
reign of sin is broken, w,hen he puts an enmity into your hearts against
it. Sin dieth when the love to it dieth. All that are converted to
God are possessed with an enmity to Satan and his ways, such as they
had not before, when they remained in the degenerate state. They
have a new heart and a new spirit ; not the spirit of the world, but
the Spirit of God. The natural spirit, that spirit that dwelleth in us,
is the spirit of the world, the spirit that inclineth us to worldly and
sensual satisfactions ; but the Spirit maketh them look after the things
promised by Christ and required by Christ : 1 Cor. ii. 12, ' For we
have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of
God.' The natural spirit was a spirit that lusteth to envy, James
iv. 5 ; and so the satanical spirit. But this is a Spirit of love to God
and man, that maketh us to seek his glory, and the good of others.
Till this Spirit be planted in us, we have not changed masters.
[2.] As to confirmation and perseverance, Christ will not lose the
prey that he hath recovered out of the hands of Satan. Indeed, while
anything of sin remaineth, there is somewhat of Satan left, which he
worketh upon. There is a remnant of his seed in the best. The
godly are yet in the way, but not at the end of the journey ; therefore
Satan hath leave to assault them while they are here, but Christ will
perfect the conquest which he hath begun, and the very being of sin
shall at length be taken away. At death sin is totally disannulled :
Jude 24, 'And tp present you faultless before the presence of his
glory ;' Eph. v. 27, ' That he may present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be
24 SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
holy, and without blemish.' When the veil of the flesh is rent once,
there is a ceasing from sin. The physician of souls will then
perfect the cure, and finish the work. The question then is, How
far Satan's power is destroyed as to the converted ? I answer — Nega
tively, not so far as to exclude our duties or trials ; but affirmatively,
the victory is secured by promise to the striving Christian.
(1.) Negatively, not to exclude our duty. There is still room left
for prayer, watchfulness, sobriety, serious resistance, that we may use
the means appointed for our safety.
(1st.) There is required of us sobriety, or an holy moderation of the
comforts and delights of the present life. The devil, the flesh, and the
world join in conspiracy against us. By the baits of the world
Satan enticeth our flesh to a neglect of God and heavenly things, there
fore we must be sober, 1 Peter v. 8, use the world as not abusing it,
1 Cor. vii. 31, that our hearts be not depressed and disabled from
looking after our great end and happiness.
(2J.) Vigilance and watchfulness is necessary, that we may stand upon
our guard, avoiding snares, forecasting hazards, lest we fall as a ready
prey into the mouth of the tempter : 1 Cor. xvi. 13, ' Watch ye, stand
ye fast in the faith ; quit you like men, and be strong.' The first point
of a Christian soldier is to watch. Conscience must stand porter at the
door of the soul, examining what goeth in and what cometh out.
The devil watcheth all advantages against us to espy where we are
weakest. Men that have no great tenderness of conscience fear not
much the loss of their souls, and are most easily wrought upon by
Satan : Eph. iv. 27, ' Neither give place to the devil.' If you but set
open the door to Satan, the capital enemy of man's salvation, he will
re-enter his old possession, and seek to exercise his old tyranny ; there
fore watch.
(3d) A steadfast resistance : ' Whom resist, steadfast in the faith.'
When we are yielding, Satan gets ground, but he is discouraged by
steadfast resistance. This must be in the faith, or by a close adherence
to God's word: 1 John ii. 14, 'I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye
have overcome the wicked one.' Adhering to the privileges of the
gospel as our happiness, and persevering in the duties as our work,
or resolving by a constant continuance in well-doing to wait for Christ's
inercy.
(4th.) We are also to pray earnestly : Ps. cxix. 133, ' Order my steps
in thy word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.' We had
need to pray earnestly, because sin will put strongly for the throne
again ; therefore beg direction.
(5th.) All is bound upon the conscience by continual mindfulness of
our baptismal vow and covenant, which must be often called to remem
brance: Horn. vi. 11, 'Likewise also reckon yourselves dead unto sin,
and alive unto God ; ' Horn. viii. 12, ' We are debtors, not to the flesh!
to live after the flesh.' If Christ had so destroyed the devil as to
exclude our endeavours and our duty, the whole gospel would be in
vain, and the promises and precepts of it to no purpose, and all that
furniture of grace which he hath provided for us lost and useless.
Surely the enemy and avenger is not so stilled but that we need to
SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2. 25
be sober and watchful, and steadfast in the faith, and much in prayer,
and ever mindful of our covenant and vowed death to sin. A man that
is-baptized, he hath a debt and bond upon him. Secondly, Christ hath
not so stilled the enemy and the avenger to exempt us from trials of
our sincerity. God will have all obedience to be tried and honoured
by opposition, and sometimes sharp and grievous opposition : Rev. ii.
10, ' The devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be
tried.' Job was permitted to Satan for his trial, Job i. 12. Paul had
his messenger of Satan for his trial, to see what shift he could make,
with sufficient internal grace, under outward and vexatious evils, 2
Cor. xii. 7-10. Now it is better to undergo the fiery trial than the
fiery torment : tried we are, but not destroyed, exercised with tempta
tion, but not overwhelmed.
(2.) Affirmatively. (1st.) It is so far broken and destroyed, that we
have necessary assistance provided for us : 2 Cor. xii. 9, ' My grace is
sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Per
fect, that is, manifested to be perfect. When the world is of Satan's
side, God is of our side: 2 Tim. iv. 17, 'Notwithstanding the Lord
stood with me, and strengthened me;' 1 Cor. x. 13, 'But God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are
able, but will with the temptation make a way to escape.' (2<i) The
final victory is secured by promise to the striving Christian : Rom. xvi.
20, ' The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.'
2. As to his interest in the corrupt world, the kingdom of Satan is
more and more subdued ; for Christ must divide the spoil with the
strong, Isa. liii. 12. Christ prevails upon opposition, and against oppo
sition, and by opposition. For —
[1.] Christ having a grant of a kingdom over the nations, is every
way furnished with power to obtain it, by means proper to the medi
atory dispensation. His kingdom is to be a spiritual kingdom, there
fore his means are suited — his Spirit, his word, his providence.
(1.) His sweet but powerful Spirit, convincing men of the truth of his
religion. And what can stand before the all- conquering force of it ?
John xvi. 8-11, ' And when he is come, he shall reprove the world of
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment : of sin, because they believe
not on me : of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me
no more : of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.'
He shall demonstrate to the world that Christ was the Messiah ; and
therefore they are guilty of great sin who will not believe on him,
that he was a righteous and innocent person, and no seducer, because
he rose from the dead, and went to the Father ; that he was an exalted
prince above Satan, or whatever was looked upon as divine powers,
because he converted most parts of the habitable world, and brought
home sinners from their idolatries to repentance and change of
life.
(2.) His word, which is called the 'rod of his strength,' Ps. ex. 2,
and the ' power of God to salvation,' Rom. i. 16. These weapons are
not carnal, but mighty through God. The world cannot resist its con
vincing power : 2 Cor. x. 4, ' For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.'
Those that feel it not, fear it : John iii. 20, ' Every one that doeth evil
26 SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved.'
(3.) His providence. All judgment is put into his hands, John v.
22. All events that fall out in the world, they are not left to an
uncertain contingency, but under the government of a supreme provi
dence, which is in Christ's hands.
[2.] In the external management of the mediatorial kingdom there
are many vicissitudes and cnanges of the outward condition of the
church. The harmony of providence requireth it, for the punishment
of the unthankful, for the trial of the sincere, for the reward of the
faithful, and destruction of the ungodly. Sometimes God doth notably
defeat Satan and his instruments, and the devil's kingdom visibly goeth
to wreck ; as at the first promulgation of the gospel, though the whole
world lay in wickedness, and Satan everywhere had his temples
wherein he was worshipped, his oracles resorted to with great rever
ence ; he ate the fat of their sacrifices, drank the wine of their drink-
offerings, yea, often the blood of their sons and daughters was offered
to him ; yet all his strongholds were demolished, the idols whom their
fathers prayed to in their adversity and distresses, and blessed in their
prosperity, are on a sudden set at nought.
[3.] Why this is great matter of praise and thankful acknowledg
ment.
(1.) Because this is the great instance of the favour God hath put
upon man ; his dignifying of them above other creatures ; that he
would not wholly desert us in our fallen estate, when the devil had
overthrown us by sin ; that the Son of God must come from heaven
to deliver us from the bondage Satan had led us into. There was
<]>i\av0pa)7ria, ' a love to man/ in our redemption : Titus iii. 4, ' After
that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared.'
Surely this is a great mystery, 1 Tim. iii. 16. Christ made man, died
for men, rose again, carried our nature into heaven, reigneth there over
all his enemies as God incarnate. What will raise your hearts in
thanksgiving, if these things do not ? They are plain points ; they
need no descants, more than a diamond doth painting.
(2.) The many benefits that result to us thereby.
(1st.) A capacity to serve and please God ; the most considerable
part of the creation had been else out of joint. God was robbed of the
use and service of mankind : Luke i. 74, 75, ' That he would grant
unto us that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him,
all the days of our life.' We were, in our natural estate, governed
and ruled by Satan, Eph. ii. 3, 4, easily taken captive by him, working
upon the desires of our flesh, 2 Tim. ii. 26. We had no remorse for
it, nor desire to change our condition, Luke xi. 21, 22 ; all was in a
sinful quiet and peace, as when wind and tide go together ; but now
this carnal security is disturbed, we are recovered and changed, and
made meet to serve and please God.
(2d) A right to the privileges of the new covenant, which are
pardon and life : Acts xxvi. 18, ' To open their eyes, and to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that
they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them
SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2. 27
which are sanctified;' and Col. i. 12-14, 'Giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of dark
ness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins/
(3d.) The honour that redoundeth to God thereby. By weak and
despised means God brings about the ends of his glory. The party
delivered was fallen man, who gave up at first assault ; the deliverer
is Christ, found in fashion as another man : 1 Cor. i. 25, ' The weak
ness of God is stronger than men.' That which in man's opinion hath
least wisdom, strength, and virtue in it, that doeth all ; by man and
man crucified.
Use 1. If it be so great a mercy, see that you be partakers of it ; see
that Satan's power be destroyed as to your souls. Christ doth not only
enter upon the world by conquest, but hath much to do with every
individual person before he can settle his kingdom in their hearts.
There is a combat between Christ and Satan for the rescue of every
sinner, and we are not easily brought to change masters. It is long
ere we awaken : 2 Tim. ii. 26, ' That they may recover themselves out
of the snare of the devil.' And after we are awakened, ere we consent
to part with our .beloved lusts. Now yield to him ; suffer him to save
you. You look to the outward interest of Christ in the world, and
you do well ; but it is easier to bring men to own the true religion,
than to bring them under the power of it. The victory we are con
cerned in is the taming our own flesh, and overcoming the corruptions
and carnal inclinations, or to set up Christ's government in the heart
where once Satan ruled. The kingdom of Christ within us is most
comfortable to us, Luke xvii. 20, 21. If once you are Christ's, you will
most really be for his interest in the world, and there is an enmity
put into you : Gen. iii. 15, ' I will put enmity between the two
seeds.'
2. If it be so great a mercy, then do not lose it, but use the means
appointed for your safety.
[1.] By baptism you are engaged, for you are listed under Christ's
banner ; we take an oath to be true to the captain of our salvation :
Kom. vi. 13, ' Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unright
eousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive
from- the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God.'
[2.] In the Lord's supper we come to quicken our zeal, and renew
our holy resolutions to adhere and cleave to Christ, renouncing Satan,
that we may steadfastly persevere in the duties of our heavenly calling.
There our baptismal vow is ratified ; we are apt to forget it.
3. The armour is faith, hope, and love : 1 Thes. v. 8, ' Putting on
the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salva
tion.' Faith owns Christ to be what he is, and so breedeth a constant
adherence to him. Love casteth out fear of persecution, and rnaketh
us delight in him ; and hope waiteth for the eternal reward.
4. The manner of using this armour ; it must be with sobriety and
watchfulness : 1 Peter v. 8, ' Be sober, be vigilant.'
28 SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2.
[1.] Sobriety, or moderation as to the good things of the present
world, lest we be enticed to a neglect of God and heavenly things.
[2.] Vigilancy noteth tenderness of conscience, when conscience
standeth porter at the door, examining what goeth in and what cometh
out. Men that have no great tenderness of conscience fear not
much the loss of their souls, and are most easily wrought on by
Satan.
SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26.
Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this
city Jericho : lie shall lay the foundation thereof in his first
born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates thereof. —
JOSH. vi. 26.
THESE words relate to the history of Jericho's destruction. In which,
the place and the manner of its being destroyed are notable.
1. The place, Jericho, was — (1.) A strong and well-fenced city ; one
of those which frightened the spies who were sent to view the land. To
appearance it seemed impregnable. (2.) It was a frontier, a key to let
in all or stop all that entered into the land of Canaan on that side.
(3.) A wicked place and people above others ; deliciousness of the
situation contributing to the luxury of the inhabitants.
2. The manner of its destruction. It was by the marching of
Israel about the city seven days, and the priests going before them
blowing with rams' horns ; a type of God's blessing on the labours of
his ministers, in stirring up his people against the kingdom of sin,
Satan, and antichrist But faith must use such means as God hath
appointed, though to appearance they be never so despicable. Against
Midian Gideon useth the stratagem of lamps in pitchers, which the
apostle calleth ' treasure in earthen vessels,' 2 Cor. iv. 7 ; so here, by
the blast of the rams' horns, the walls of this seemingly impregnable
city fell flat to the ground : 2 Cor. x. 4, ' For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God in the pulling down
of strongholds.'
The text giveth an account of what Joshua did and said on this
occasion. What he did, in the beginning of the verse, ' He adjured the
people at that time ; ' that is, exacted this oath or solemn consent from
them, to submit themselves and their posterity to the imprecation or
curse denounced by him in the name of the Lord. What he said, in
the curse itself, ' Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up
and buildeth this city Jericho.'
So that in the words you have a terrible denunciation — (1.) Gene
rally propounded ; (2.) Particularly exemplified.
[1.] Generally expressed, ' Cursed be the man before the Lord that
riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho.' Where — (1.) The crime,
' That riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho ; ' that is, that shall
presume and take the boldness to build the walls of this city. (2.)
The punishment, ' Cursed be he before the Lord ; ' that is, the Lord
30 SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26.
seeing, ratifying, and appointing this doom and sentence. For it is
not a passionate imprecation, but a prophetical prediction, coming not
from any private motion, but the inspiration of God ; and therefore
it is called ' the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua,' 1 Kings xvi. 34.
But why is such a curse interminated against those that shall build
this city?
I answer — Though we are not to render a reason of God's counsels,
yet this seemeth to be the cause : it was the first city of all Canaan
that was destroyed, and that miraculously ; and God would have the
ruins remain as a monument to posterity of his power, justice, and
goodness ; for whilst this spectacle, the rubbish of the ruined walls,
remained, it encouraged their faith, and upbraided their unthankful-
ness to God who had wrought so wonderfully for them ; of his justice
on the Canaanites, and his grace and goodness towards his people.
[2.] It is particularly explained, ' He shall lay the foundation thereof
in his first-born, and in his youngest son he shall set up the gates
thereof ; that is, he shall be punished for his presumption in this act
by the death of his two sons ; the first in the beginning of the work,
the second in the finishing thereof ; the setting up of the gates being
the last thing. Others probably understand, he shall be punished with
the loss of all his children, from the eldest to the youngest ; so that
the curse is, his posterity shall be rooted out.
Now, for a long time none had the boldness to attempt this work upon
which so fearful a curse was imposed ; till at length, some hundreds of
years afterwards, in Abab's time, one Hiel the Bethelite audaciously
sets upon it ; and accordingly this curse was verified in him, to the
utter overthrow of his family : 1 Kings xvi. 34, ' In his days did Hiel
the Bethelite build Jericho : he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram
his first-born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub,
according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son
of Nun.' Strange that, seeing his first son drop away, he desisted not
from that design; but such is the precipice of bad projects and engage
ments, once step in, and seldom stop in the way of wickedness.
This history teacheth us two lessons —
(1.) That it is dangerous to slight God's threatenings. The curse
denounced many hundred years before took place. The force and
virtue of the prediction was not worn out and antiquated, though the
attempt was long after it was first pronounced.
(2.) How dangerous it is to build again what God hath or would
have to be ruined and destroyed. This latter lesson I shall insist upon,
and observe —
Doct. That to seek to erect what God hath and would have
destroyed involveth us in a fearful curse.
In following which point, I shall show — (1.) What God hath and
would destroy ; (2.) The reasons; (3.) The use.
First, What it is that God hath and will destroy. The question is
large, but I will restrain it to the matter I intend. And because the
accommodation of scripture to particular cases needeth to proceed
upon good evidence, that right may be done, I shall state it in these
propositions —
1. Certain it is that the kingdom which God will erect and establish
SERMON UPON JOSHUA VL 26. 31
is the kingdom of the Mediator, and the kingdom which God will
destroy is the kingdom of the devil. I put it in this copulate axiom
or- double proposition, because the one immediately dependeth upon
the other, and the one cannot be done without the other. The king
dom of Christ as mediator cannot be set up unless the kingdom of the
devil be destroyed.
Now that this is the purpose of God, to erect the one and destroy
the other, is evident by scripture : Ps. ex. 1, ' The Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot
stool.' Christ upon the throne hath enemies, but in due time they shall
be his footstool. He shall gain upon opposition, and against opposition,
and by opposition. They shall be so far from overturning his throne,
that they shall be a step to it, as the footstool is to the throna ; and 1
John iii. 8, ' For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil,' Iva \vary. To unravel all that
Satan hath been a-weaving for the captivating and deceiving of the
world. Christ having a grant of a kingdom over the nations, his design
is to conquer them, and subdue them to himself, and to recover them
to himself. This was the meaning of Gen. iii. 15, ' I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.'
2. To know these two kingdoms we must consider the quality of
either.
[1.] The gospel kingdom is a kingdom of light, life, and love.
Of light, because the drift of it is to give men a true knowledge of
God : Acts xxvi. 18, ' To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness
to light, and from the power of Satan to God.' The devil's kingdom
is the kingdom of darkness. The devils are said to be rulers of the
darkness of this world, Eph. vi. 12. And those that are called from
one kingdom to another are called from darkness to light : Col. i. 13,
' Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son.'
It is a kingdom of life ; as men that were before dead in sins may
be made alive unto God : John x. 10,.' I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly.' For heathens,
and all men in their natural estate, are 'alienated from the life of
God,' Eph. iv. 18. But by faith in Christ we live in God and to God :
Gal. ii. 20, ' I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live ; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me : and the life that I now live in the flesh, I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me ; ' Gal. v. 6, ' In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, which worketh by love/ As
it worketh by love, we are inclined to God, and do his will, and seek
his glory, and our happiness in the everlasting fruition of him.
And of love. It is a kingdom of love, as it possesseth us with a
fervent charity to God and men : 1 John iv. 8, ' He that loveth not,
knoweth not God ; for God is love ; ' Acts xxiv. 16, ' Herein do I
exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward
God and toward men.'
Now opposite to light is ignorance and error ; to life, a religion that
consists of shows and dead ceremonies; to love, uncharitableness,
32 SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26.
malice, and hatred of the power of godliness, and persecution ; and
wherever these eminently prevail, there is an opposite kingdom set up
to the kingdom of Christ ; which may be done by two sorts of persons
or people —
(1.) Those that continue in the old apostasy and defection from God,
as eminently was done by the gentiles and idolatrous heathen world ;
who live in ignorance of the true God, and are dead in trespasses and
sins ; and where envy, pride, malice, and ambition reigneth, instead of
that spirit of love and goodness which the gospel would produce.
(2.) It may be done by a second falling away, which is foretold
2 Thes. ii. 3, ' For that day shall not come, except there come a falling
away first.' Now, this falling off from Christ's kingdom is there, where,
in opposition to light, error is taught, and ignorance is counted the
mother of devotion, and people are restrained from the means of know
ledge, as if it were a dangerous thing ; as if the height of Christian
faith and devotion did consist in a blind obedience, and a believing
what men could impose upon them by their bare authority; and
instead of life, men place their whole religion in some superstitious rites
and ceremonies, and trifling acts of devotion, or exterior mortifications ;
and instead of love to God and souls, all things are sacrificed to private
ambition, and consciences are forced by the highest penalties and
persecutions to submit to their corruptions of the Christian faith and
worship. Where this obtaineth, there is a manifest perversion of the
interests of Christ's kingdom.
Both these apostasies, the general apostasy from God, and the special
apostasy from Christ, may be upheld by the authority, power, and
interest of several nations ; and though the name of God and of Christ
be retained in either for a cloak, yet clearly we may see they are
revolted from the kingdom of God and of Christ.
[2.] The devil's kingdom. Surely he hath a great hand in all the
corruptions of mankind, especially in antichrist's kingdom. As the
apostle telleth us, his ' coming shall be ' by or ' after the working of
Satan,' 2 Thes. ii. 9. He is the raiser and support of that estate, as
will appear by what is ascribed to the devil in the scriptures.
(1.) Ignorance, and error, and seduction. For it is said, John viii.
44, that ' he abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him :
when he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own ; for he is a liar, and
the father of lies.' And therefore in that society of professed Christians
where ignorance not only reigneth, but is countenanced, and means of
grace suppressed, and most errors and corruptions in doctrine have
been introduced, there Satan hath great influence : 2 Cor. iv. 4, ' In
whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
'believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them.'
(2.) Idolatry. This was his first and great endeavour for perverting
the world, to bring men to worship another god, or the true God by an
idol. The devil is e^Xo^a/*/?, a delighter in idols.* He was the con
triver of the idols of the gentiles ; therefore they are said to ' sacri
fice their sons and daughters unto devils,' Ps. cvi. 37 ; and Deut. xxxii.
17, ' They sacrificed unto devils, and not unto God.' They meant it
to God, but the Lord saith it was to devils. Aaron saith to Jehovah ;
'Sjnecius.
SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26. 33
so saith Jeroboam. Now, where the devil can get such a party in the
church as shall not only set up, but be mad upon image- worship, who
do more visibly promote his interest than they ?
(3.) That which is ascribed to Satan is bloody cruelty, or seeking the
destruction of Christ's most faithful servants ; for he is called ' a
murderer from the beginning ' John viii. 44 ; and Cain is said to be
of that ' wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he
him ? because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous,'
1 John iii. 12. Enmity to the power of godliness came from
Satan; and wherever it is encouraged and notoriously practised,
they are a party and confederacy of men governed and influenced
by Satan. Now where shall we find this character but in anti
christ's confederacy ? Kev. xiii. 15, ' He caused that as many as
would not worship the image of the beast should be killed ; ' and again,
Kev. xvii. 5, 6, the woman whose name was Mystery was ' drunken with
the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.' And
it hath been eminently fulfilled in the bloodshed of Germany, France,
England, and other nations ; and all this to extinguish the light and
suppress the truth of Christ. Oh, how many seeming Christians hath
Satan employed in these works of cruelty ! When oncahe had seduced
the church to errors, and corrupted the doctrine and worship of Christ,
he presently maketh the erroneous party instruments of as cruel and
bloody persecutions as were ever commenced by infidels and Mahome
tans. Witness their murders upon so many thousands of the Walden-
ses and Albigenses, whom they not only spoiled, but slaughtered with
all manner of hellish cruelty. Some of their own bishops complained
they could not find lime and stone enough to build prisons for them,
nor defray the charges of their food. The world was even amazed at
their unheard of cruelties ; smoking and burning thousands of men,
women, and children, some in caves, others at the stake ; and many
other ways butchering them, proclaiming crusades against them, and
preaching the merit of paradise to such bloody butchers as had a mind
to root them out ; driving also multitudes to perish in snowy moun
tains. What desolations they wrought in Bohemia ; what horrible
massacres in France ! What fires they kindled in England ; what
cruelties they executed in Ireland and Piedmont ! If we should be
silent, history will speak, and tell all generations to come how little
this faction of Christians have of the lamb-like spirit of Christ Jesus,
and how insatiable their thirst is for the blood of upright righteous
men. And then consider where the satanical spirit ruleth, and whether
we have cause to be enamoured of blood, and fire, and inquisitions ?
(4.) That which is ascribed to Satan is that he is ' the god of this
world,' 2 Cor. iv. 4 ; and again, the ' prince of this world/ John xii. 31,
John xvi. 11. He playeth the god and prince here, and sensual and
worldly souls are easily seduced by him. The riches, honours, and
wealth of this world are the great instruments of his kingdom ; and the
men of this world, whose portion is in this life, are his proper subjects.
As Christ is head of the saints, so is Satan of the wicked, ungodly, am
bitious world. St Austin distinguished of two cities — of Jerusalem
the city of God, and Babylon which is the incorporation which belong-
eth to Satan. And therefore, when you find any party of Christians who
VOL. XVIII. 0
34 SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26.
' are of the world, speak of the world, and the world heareth them,' 1
John iv. 5, they that are to try the spirits may soon see what to choose
and what to forsake. Certainly the case is not doubtful where the
head of that state, without any warrant from Christ, and with the ap
parent detriment and loss of Christianity, exalteth himself above all that
is called God, and affecteth an ambitious tyranny and domineering over
the Christian world, both princes, pastors, and people ; and to uphold
this tyranny, careth not what havoc he maketh of the churches of
Christ ; and where the whole frame of their religion is calculated for
secular honour, worldly pomp, and greatness.
3. That it is God's purpose to set up one kingdom and demolish the
other, not only in the hearts of particular men, but in kingdoms and
nations and public societies. Jesus Christ was appointed to be not
only ' king of saints/ Rev. xv. 3, but ' king of nations,' Jer. x. 7 ; and
therefore not only erect to himself a throne and a government in the
hearts of his people, but to have his religion owned and countenanced,
and supported by nations and kingdoms and public societies of men.
When Christ was promised to Abraham, it was said, Gen. xviii. 18,
' All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him ; ' not only
persons, but nations. So Isa. Iv. 5, ' Nations that knew not thee shall
run to thee ; ' Isa. Ix. 12, ' The nations and kingdoms that would not
serve thee shall perish ; ' Rev. xi. 15, ' The kingdoms of the world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.' When Christ
sent abroad the apostles, he said, Mat. xxviii. 19, ' Go, teach .all nations.'
They were not only to gain upon single persons, but bring nations
to a public owning of Christ. There is a personal acknowledgment of
Christ when we receive him into our hearts : John i. 12, ' To as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.'
An ecclesiastical acknowledgment of Christ, when the church as a
society is in visible covenant with him : E^ek. xvi. 8, ' I sware unto
thee, and entered _ into covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and
thou becamest mine.' A national acknowledgment of Christ, when
his religion is countenanced and supported by nations, and befriended
with the laws and constitutions of civil government. This is a great
advantage. Christ prayed for it : John xvii. 21, 23, ' That they may
all be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also
may be one in us : that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one ;
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me.' By believing there is meant common
conviction. He had promised it before : John xvi. 8, ' When he is
come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judg
ment.' It is a great advantage when the potentates of the earth set
open the doors to Christ, and are careful of his interest in the world
4 When true religion is thus received, such an advantage should
not be lost or carelessly looked after. Partly because it is with much
ado that Christ gets up in the world ; not only by the labours of his
servants but by their deep sufferings. As the chief captain said to
Paul With a great sum obtained I this freedom,' Acts xxii. 28: so
this liberty was not only purchased by the blood of Christ, 1 Peter
i. 18, 19, but with the expense of many of his servants' lives, who
SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26. 35
counted not their interest dear to them, to bring the world to this
pass, and to recover the truths and interests of Christ's kingdom out
of 'the common apostasy. Partly because it is unreasonable that
should be lost in an instant that hath been so long a-gaining, and
wantonly thrown away which with so many years' care hath been
brought to this effect ; so that the work of Christ is set back in the
world. After the second apostasy, God doth by degrees bring down
the kingdom of Satan, and recover the kingdom of the Mediator:
Eev. xi. 13, ' The tenth part of the city fell, and the remnant were
affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven; ' Ps. lix. 11, ' Slay
them not, lest my people forget : scatter them in thy power, and bring
them down.' To put Christ to do again what hath been done already,
is such a presuming on his providence as will cost dear. Partly also
because the present age is a kind of trustee for the next. We are
God's witnesses to the present age : Isa, xliii. 10, ' Ye are my wit
nesses, saith the Lord.' And we are God's trustees for future genera
tions, and should take care we do not entail prejudices upon them,
and leave them to grapple with insuperable difficulties, to find out
their way to heaven : Horn. iii. 2, ' The oracles of God were committed
to the Jews.' So 2 Tim. ii. 2, ' The things which thou hast heard of
me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall be able to teach others also.' Now we must see that we be
faithful in our trust. And we are bound to this zeal, if we remember
our ancestors, or remember our posterity. Partly also because God
severely threateneth them that play the wanton with religion, because
they were not bitten with the inconveniences under which former gene
rations smarted. And therefore, as Samuel dealt with the Israelites,
when they would cast off the theocracy, or God's government, under
which they had been well and safely governed, that they might be like
the nations round about them ; Samuel telleth them by God's appoint
ment, l The manner of the king that shall reign over them,' 1 Sam.
viii. 11-13, 'He shall take your sons, and appoint them for him
self, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before
his chariots ; and he will take your daughters to be his confectionaries,
and to be cooks and bakers,' &c. ; so if such a wanton humour should
possess us that we must have the religion of the nations round about
us, consider whom you receive spiritually to reign over you ; one that
will lord it over your consciences, obtrude upon you his damnable
errors, and pestilent superstitions, and bold usurpations on the
authority of Christ ; or else burn you with temporal fire, or excom
municate you, and cast out your name, as one that is to be condemned
to that which is eternal. And then you will see the difference between
the blessed yoke of Christ and the iron yoke of antichrist.
Secondly, Keasons.
1. It is ingratitude to build again what God hath destroyed, as if
his mercies were not worth the having. God prefaces the law, Exod.
xx. 2, ' I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage/ Now God took it heinously
when ever and anon they were making to themselves a captain to
return again to Egypt ; as if he had done them wrong to knock off their
shackles and to free them from the brick-kilns, when their cry, because
36 SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26.
of the anguish of their souls, came up to heaven. So in the new testa
ment • Gal v 1, ' Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath
made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.'
The servility of legal observances was so great and so unprofitable,
that they could not be thankful enough for their liberty ; and there
fore it should be dearer to us than to part with it for trifles, or to take
on the yoke again, when God hath freed us from it.
2. It is an affront to the God of heaven, or a contempt of his
power ; an entering into the list with the almighty God, as if we could
keep up what he hath a mind to destroy. It is not a simple sin to
stand out against Christ, and not to open the gates to him is a great
evil. If his anger be but kindled a little, what can we do, the greatest,
the 'wisest, the most powerful amongst us? Ps. ii. 12, ' Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way, when his wrath is kindled
but a little.' But it is an aggravated sin to turn him out after he is
entered. Alas ! how horrible a contempt is that of Christ ! It is a
vile scorn put upon the majesty of God. Better never have owned
him than to be cold, indifferent, and negligent in his interests. If the
business had been to introduce a religion, it had been another matter ;
but this is to preserve what is already introduced.
3. It is unbelief. Such persons regard not the threatenings of God :
I<iam. L 9, ' She remembered not her last end, therefore she came down
wonderfully ; ' Deut. xxxii. 29, ' Oh, that they were wise, that they
understood this, that they would consider their latter end.' Mischief
and ruin attendeth these attempts : Hosea xiii. 1, ' When Ephraim
offended in Baal, he died.' But people little mind these things.
4. How heinously God taketh this. See how he declareth the
cause: Jer. ii. 9-13, 'I will plead with you, saith the Lord, and
with your children's children will I plead. For pass over the isles of
Chittim, and see ; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see
if there be such a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which yet
are no gods ? but my people have changed their glory for that which
doth not profit. Be astonished, 0 ye heavens, at this, and be horribly
afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have
committed two evils ; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living
waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no
water.' God will make you know, and your children's children know,
that it is the basest thing in the world that he should lose ground in
your days, and that people should sit loose in matters of religion, not care
much which end goeth forward, when he hath done such great things
for them. But what is God's plea ? let them produce any people in
any part of the world then commonly known that had dealt with their
idols as they had done with him, the true and living God. Then, ver.
12, ' Be astonished, 0 ye heavens ! ' God would have the sun look pale
on such a wickedness, and the spheres to hurl out their stars, and all the
creatures to stand amazed at such a folly, such transcendant and
matchless impiety. Elsewhere God complaineth, Isa. xliii. 22, ' Thou
hast not called upon me, 0 Jacob ; thou hast been weary of me, O
Israel.' To be weary of God is as great a charge as can be brought
against a people. Then it is just with God to take away religion, that
the want may make us more sensible of the worth of it
SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26. 37
5. It bringeth a scandal and ill report on God in the world. There
fore he standeth upon his vindication : Micah vi. 3-5, ' 0 my people !
what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee?
Testify against me. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,
and redeemed thee out of the house of servants, and I sent before thee
Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people ! remember now what Balak
king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered
him from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of
the Lord/ That strangers receive him not is not so bad, but that a
people acquainted with him should cast him out after trial. God
calleth upon the mountains and strong foundations of the earth, who
keep still their obediential subjection to their creator, to witness
against the ingratitude and stupidness of his people. What injury
have we found in God ? ver. 2, ' Hear, 0 ye mountains, the Lord's
controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth; for the Lord
hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.'
Use. We must neither build the walls of Jericho again, nor, as much
as in us lieth, suffer others to build them. Every one in his place is
to hinder the work. If religion were uncertain, it were another
matter. But did Christ come to establish the works of the devil ? If
Joshua saith, ' Cursed be he before the Lord that riseth up and
buildeth this city Jericho ; ' if Paul said, Gal. i. 8, ' If an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed ; ' if others bestir themselves
and by clancular and base artifices go to build these walls again, we
should be the more zealous for God : Micah iv. 5, ' For all people shall
walk in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of our
God.' But what must we do ?
1. Let us not only profess the true religion, but come under the
power of it. The heart is best established by grace. The bias of
men's corrupt hearts doth easily prevail against the light of their minds.
Few are corrupted in opinion but that are first false at heart. The
regenerate have advantages above other men : 1 John ii. 20, ' Ye
have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things.' Most rot
ten opinions in the world are against the gust and sense of the new
nature. But on the other side, men soon lose their zeal for truth that
are addicted to a worldly sensual life. Therefore see that Christ's
kingdom be set up in our hearts : Luke xvii. 21, ' The kingdom of God
is within you ; ' and that there we ' build not again the things we have
destroyed/ Gal. ii. 18. After we have devoted ourselves to God, we
must not fall off from him ; till Christ's kingdom be set up in our
hearts, we shall never sincerely care for his interests in the world ; for
all carnal men seek their own things. Men may bustle for a while for
the interest of their several factions and opinions, but have not a true
pure zeal for Christ's kingdom.
2. Let us pray ; that will do much. Christ hath taught us to pray
for the coming of his kingdom : Mat. vi. 10, ' Thy kingdom come ! '
David, in his penitential psalm, could not forget the welfare of the
church, when so deeply concerned as to his own particular, for the
recovering of his own peace : Ps. Ii. 18, ' Do good in thy good pleasure
unto Zion : build thou the walls of Jerusalem.' Walls of Zion,
38 SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26.
not of Jericho or Babylon. It is God's interest; spread it before
him.
3. Be thankful to God for these deliverances. Prayer gets blessings,
but thankfulness keepeth them ; for God is careful to preserve them
to such who count it a benefit, and are mindful of it. We have mani
fold cause to bless God.
[1.] For former deliverance out of the house of bondage so early.
[2.J That he hath so often defeated the attempts of those who would
bring us back thither.
[3.] For the good we have many years enjoyed under the reformed
religion, which God hath blessed to the converting, strengthening, and
comforting many a precious soul.
[4.] For continuing still the liberty of the gospel and means of grace
under a protestant king.
[5.] For the quiet we now enjoy ; when other parts of Christendom
are in a combustion, we are untouched, and enjoy safety. We are
querulous, and apt to complain ; but all things reckoned, we have much
more cause to give thanks.
4. Let such deliverances as this enkindle our love and zeal to that
religion which God hath owned and defended. Partly because when
men are persuaded of the truth, such providences as these are so many
attestations to it: Ps. xli. 11, ' By this I know that thou favourest me,
because mine enemy doth not triumph over me/ Partly because God
will spew those out of his mouth that are neither hot nor cold. Partly
because zeal discourageth the factors and abettors of the kingdom of
darkness. The fear of the people restrained the pharisees.
5. Prize the means of grace, and encourage them. Jericho's walls
fell by the blast of the rams' horns ; this kingdom falleth by the preach
ing of the gospel : 2 Thes. ii. 8, ' Whom the Lord will consume with
the spirit of his mouth.' Whoever hinders that, promotes the devil's
kingdom : 2 Cor. iv. 4, ' In whom the god of this world hath blinded
the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them/
Owls fly in the dark ; this kingdom is maintained by darkness, blind
ness, and ignorance of the truth.
6. Let us not give encouragement by our divisions to our adver
saries. The more we labour for unity, the more we establish religion :
Kom. xvi. 17, ' Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary
to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them/ When
passengers in a boat fall a-quarrelling and pushing one another, they
endanger the sinking of the boat. When Christ's army is scattered,
antichrist will prevail. Keep up the common Christianity. It may
be peaceful endeavours signify nothing in a factious and divided time,
yet we must unite every one in the things that are right and owned by
God : James iii. 17, ' The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable;' provided we touch no unclean thing. Here we must
separate : 2 Cor. vi. 17, ' Come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing, and I will receive
you.'
7. Eecommend religion by a holy life, partly because gross sins,
under the profession of a reformed religion, provoke God to remove
SERMON UPON JOSHUA VI. 26. 39
our candlestick from us ; partly because, with all understanding be
holders, the fruits of love, peace, and holiness will justify your religion:
Mat. xi. 19, ' Wisdom is justified of her children.'
8. Practise the virtues contrary to the vices of the opposite kingdom.
Theirs is a bloody religion ; ours a meek one. Be zealous to reduce
them from their errors. Let there be a hatred of popery, and a pity to
papists ; a hatred of abomination, but not a hatred of enmity : Prov.
xxix. 27, ' An unjust man is an abomination to the just, and he that is
upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.'
SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5.1
0 my people ! remember now what Balak king of Modb consulted,
and wliat Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim
unto Gilgal ; tliat ye may know the righteousness of the Lord. —
MICAH vi. 5.
THESE words are a part of God's plea against Israel for their ingratitude
in departing from their obedience to him. Their backsliding had
raised an evil report upon God, as if he were harsh and severe, and
had not dealt well with them ; therefore God justifieth his providence ;
what injury had he done to them ? wherein had he wearied them ?
what had they to lay to his charge ? ver. 3, ' 0 my people ! what
have I done to thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify
against me.' The matter concerneth us, for the general sin of this
nation is, that we are grown weary of God ; but we have as little reason
as they had. Injuries he had done none to them, but, on the contrary,
vouchsafed many rare and singular favours. He instanceth first in his
redeeming them from Egypt, where they were dealt with as slaves and
bondsmen : ver. 4, ' For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,
and redeemed thee out of the house of servants.' Surely a deliverance
from spiritual or temporal bondage should be an eternal bond upon
us to be for God. The second instance is his conduct of them in the
wilderness under Moses and Aaron : ver. 4, c And I sent before thee
Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.' When God giveth a people such gover
nors both in church and state, who do not only adhere to true religion,
but countenance it in others, yea, set their whole heart to propagate
it, it is a great mercy, not to be forgotten. The third instance is that
in the text, his bringing them into Canaan, notwithstanding the
designs to root them out by the way : ' 0 my people ! remember now
what Balak king of Moab consulted/ &c.
In which words —
1. Observe the matter, what is recommended to their remembrance,
in two things —
[1.] The plot betwixt Balak and Balaam.
[2.] The many good things that fell out between Shittim and Gilgal.
2. The end why it is recommended to their remembrance, ' That ye
may know the righteousness of the Lord.
First, For the matter.
[1.] The plot between Balak and Balaam.
1 Preached November 5, 167G,
SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5. 41
[1.] What Balak consulted ; how to ruin Israel, and bereave them of
God's favour and protection. Therefore he sent for Balaam to curse
them, hoping that by this wizard's enchantments and predictions the
matter would be easy.
[2.] What Balaam answered — (1.) Somewhat by way of prophecy;
(2.) Somewhat by way of counsel. (1st.) By way of prophecy, he
found that to curse Israel was a fruitless endeavour, and God over
ruled his tongue to bless them ; (2<i) By way of counsel, he persuaded
Balak to feast them, to induce them to idolatry and fornication.
2. The second part of the matter which is commended to their
remembrance is, what happened between Shittim and Gilgal. Shittim
was the place where they went astray after Baal-peor, Num. xxv. 1,
and the place where they did abide until after Moses' death ; and
from whence Joshua removed them to Jordan, where they passed over
to Gilgal, and there the Lord renewed his covenant with them by
circumcision, Josh. v. 2. Therefore the Lord willeth his people here to
remember the things that befell them from Shittim to Gilgal. What
these things were may be seen by the history following — (1.) Though
many warped, and committed such heinous whoredoms with Baal-peor,
the state and body of the church was still preserved ; (2.) That God
led them on dry foot through Jordan, and at length brought them into
Canaan, the land of promise ; (3.) There anew confirmeth his covenant
with them ; and (4.) The slaying of Balaam, their pernicious enemy,
in the interval between their going from Shittim to Gilgal: Num.
xxxi. 8, ' Balaam also, the son of Beor, they slew with the sword.'
Secondly, The end, ' That ye may know the righteousness of the
Lord.' It implieth here both his mercy and his fidelity. His mercy,
which strove with their wickedness, and overcame their evil with his
goodness. His faithfulness, in keeping his covenant and his promises ;
for though some of the people did perish for that they fell into this
wickedness with Baal-peor, yet those that cleaved to the Lord re
mained alive. This was just as they were entering into the promised
land.
Doct. That old mercies, especially national mercies, should not be
forgotten, that AVO may know God's uprightness in keeping his cove
nant and gracious promises.
1. I shall give you an account of this instance of mercy which the
text offereth.
2. What observations may be thence deduced.
3. Why such kind of mercies should not be forgotten.
First, To give an account of this instance of mercy in the text.
1. What Balak consulted. Let us state his design ; for this plot
that he laid was most dangerous and wicked, and the most likely to
obtain his desire ; for if he could have obtained from God a curse
upon Israel, he might soon have vanquished them. There are many
ways which the devil's instruments take to mischief religion. Some
times by fomenting and promoting divisions among themselves, that
they may first ruin one another, and then become a prey to their
common adversaries : Gal. v. 15, ' If ye bite and devour one another,
take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.' It beginneth in
caluminating and defaming one another, and then within a while it
42 SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5.
breaks out into open feuds, and that breedeth mischief and per
secution. The devil hath a hand in all this, and many times his
instruments, as Sanballat and Tobiah set tip a party among the
Jews to weaken their hands in the work, Neh. vi. Sometimes
by sowing divisions between them and their rulers. The devil
knoweth what an advantage it is to religion to have the countenance
of princes, and, on the other side, how jealous they are of their autho
rity and prerogatives ; therefore by his instruments he seeketh to
prejudice and prepossess them against those that profess religion in
strictness and power. Thus ' Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to
Jeroboam, the king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee
in the midst of the house of Israel, and the land is not able to bear
all his words/ Amos vii. 10 ; as if he had enticed the people from their
duty, and made them enemies to his authority ; and this by claucular
insinuation, when Amos was neither called nor heard. So Saul against
David : 1 Sam. xxiv. 9, ' Wherefore nearest thou men's words, saying,
Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?' So Haman against the Jews:
Esther iii. 8, ' There is a people scattered abroad, and dispersed among
the people, in all the provinces of thy kingdom ; and their laws are
diverse from all people, neither keep they the king's laws ; therefore it
is not for the king's profit to suffer them/ Thus whisperers make
princes conceive an ill opinion of religious men. But the devil will
soar an higher flight yet, to divide between them and God, and to
disengage him from the protection of his people. What else is the
meaning of all his temptations ? But most eminently this was the
plot now in hand. The Israelites could not be overcome as long as
God was with them, and how shall they do to get away God from them ?
God was not, as the gods of the heathens, to be called out by sacrifices
and enchantments; as they used, before they warred against any
people, to endeavour by certain charms and rites to get away their
tutelar gods from them. Macrobius hath a chapter De ritu evocandi
deos ; and if they conquered any country, they ascribed it to the
departure of their gods. Excessere omnes, adytis arisque relictis,
dii quibus imperium Jioc steterat. Balak, according to the custom of
the nations, would try this ; but they were now to deal with the God
of Israel, who could not be charmed away from his people. And
though Balaam was of great repute and esteem among that people,
and though it was misery enough to be blasted with his curse, and
happiness enough to be blessed by his mouth : Num. xxii. 6, ' He
whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed
indeed ; ' even as Simon Magus was esteemed the ' great power of
God/ Acts viii. 10 ; yet this would not take effect. Therefore—
2. Let us see what Balaam answered him,
[1.] By way of prediction. He came to curse them, but he uttereth
many prophecies concerning the happiness of Israel : Num. xxiii. 8,
' How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed, or how shall I defy
whom the Lord hath not defied?' He showeth that no inferior
power is able to hurt without leave from God ; yea, he pronounceth a
great blessing upon Israel, as those that were happy both in life and
death : ver. 10, ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my
last end be like his/ And further showeth the stableness of God's
SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5. 43
love to his people : ver. 19, 20, ' God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor the son of man, that he should repent : hath he said, and
shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good ?
Behold, I have received commandment to bless, and he hath blessed,
and I cannot reverse it.' All the powers of the world are not able to
separate them from his love and blessings in Christ And then pro-
phesieth of Christ, insomuch that Balak entreateth him to give over :
ver. 25, ' Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.' Since he
could do no evil to Israel, he would hinder him from doing good. But
yet he would make another trial ; but still it pleased the Lord to over
rule his tongue to bless Israel, and the truth and constancy of his
love appeared, against whose will the more he struggleth the stronger
he is resisted, Num. xxiv. 3. He taketh up a new parable, blessing
Israel once again, which puts Balak all into a rage and indignation,
and he driveth away the false prophet from his sight, who sought after
honour and riches as the wages of his unrighteousness, but is sent
home with ignominy and shame. But Balaam's mind is still hanker
ing after the reward, and therefore, when he could not hurt them by
any prophetical curse, he seeketh to do it by his pestilent counsel.
[2.] What he answered him by way of advice : Num. xxiv. 4,
' Come now, and I will advertise thee what thou shalt do.' Moses
doth not express the counsel given, because it was whispered secretly
into Balak's ear ; you see the sense is imperfect in that place ; and
what it was may be known by the effect, and by other places. By the
effect, Num. xxv. Balaam gave counsel to Balak and the princes of
Midian to put a stumbling-block before the Israelites, to see if they
could withdraw the people from the love, fear, and obedience of the
Lord their God, that so God might be provoked to withdraw his
favour and blessing from them ; and so Israel's sinning might bring
themselves into the curse which Balaam with all his enchantments
could not bring upon them. By this wicked counsel they prevailed
against many, to the death of twenty-four thousand Israelites. That
Balaam was the author of all this mischief appeareth, Num. xxxi. 16,
' Behold these (that is, the Midianitish women) caused the children of
Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against
the Lord in the matter of Peor.' And it is said, Kev. ii. 14, that
' Balaam taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of
Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.'
This was the plot, to send some beautiful women of the Midianites to
wander about the camp of Israel, to tempt their lusty youth and
martial men, first to uncleanness, and then to idolatry, that so God
might be provoked against them; a design pernicious and full of
refined malice.
3. What befell them between Shittim and Gilgal.
[1.] In Shittim they miscarried foully by the effect of Balaam's
counsel. The intended war of Moab against Israel was turned into a
pretended peace and feigned amity, and their fair women were sent
about the camp to defile the bodies and souls of men with whoredom
and idolatry. And so a people that had such experience of God's
power and goodness in the wilderness, and were just now ready to
enter into the promised land, are here prevented and overthrown in
44 SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5.
the wilderness, and God's anger was kindled against them, and twenty-
four thousand were destroyed among the people, Num. xxv. 9. It
seems one thousand slain by the judges, and twenty-three thousand
by God's own hand ; that is, by a plague : 1 Cor. x. 8, ' Neither com
mit fornication, as some of them also committed, and fell in one day
three and twenty thousand.' But after that God was atoned to them,
and his judgment was executed upon the malefactors, and the plague
ceased.
[2.] They are sent against the Midianites, who had vexed them with
their wiles, that is, with their deceits and feigned amity ; and there
they light on Balaam, and slew him, Num. xxxi. 8. This wretch died
not the death of the righteous, as he seemed to desire; but his
iniquity found him out, for, among others, he was slain with the sword.
[3.] After this God appears among them again, and they are led
into Canaan with a miracle ; an argument of a great favour on God's
part, and an awe of those things that befell them at Shittim ; and now
they are very tender of provoking God again : Josh. xxii. 17, 'Is the
iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until
this day ? ' They had tasted of the bitter waters.
[4.] God's covenant is renewed at Gilgal, to show that he would
still be their God, and bless them as formerly, Josh. v. 2, 3.
Secondly, The observations that may be hence deduced. For cer
tainly it was a special act of God's mere love : Deut. xxiii. 4, 5, ' They
hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor to curse thee ; nevertheless
the Lord thy God would not hearken to Balaam, but the Lord thy
God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy
God loved thee.' So Josh. xxiv. 9, 10, ' And Balak the son of Zippor,
king of Moab, arose, and warred against Israel, and sent and called
Balaam the son of Beor to curse you : but I would not hearken to
Balaam ; therefore he blessed you still : so I delivered you out of his
hand.'
1. That wicked men cannot hurt the godly but when God permit-
teth : Gen. xxxi. 7, ' Your father hath deceived me, and changed my
wages ten times, but God suffered him not to hurt me.' So Laban
saith, ver. 29, ' It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt ; but the
God of your fathers spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed
that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.' God hath the power
of blessing and cursing in his own hand, however men are disposed.
The king sought by all means possible and devisable to bring God's
curse upon them, but God changed it into a glorious blessing. Men's
hearts are not in their own hands, and if they find their hearts, success
is not at their command. God disappointed the plots and practice of
Balak and Balaam. Balaam returned as he came, and could not curse
Israel, but denounced woes against their enemies.
2. That God can protect us against the fraud as well as the violence
of enemies. The devil assaults us with wiles and darts, Eph. vi. 11,
16 ; so do his instruments assault us ; they vex us with their wiles,
and pursue us with their open hostility and persecution ; but we may
trust God with our safety. A remedy may possibly be prepared against
violence, when no man by his own foresight can find out all the snares
laid for him. But this is the comfort of God's people, that nothing is
SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5. 45
hidden from God. He is wise, and he is watchful ; wise to foresee the
draught of his own providence : Ps. xxxvii. 12, 13, ' The wicked plot-
teth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth : the Lord
shall laugh at him, for he seeth that the day is coming.' And as God
is wise, so he is watchful : Ps. cxxi. 4, ' He that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep.' God is privy to their most secret designs.
3. That God's providence is especially interested when the design is
to corrupt religion. Balaam was right in pronouncing blessings on
the children of Israel whilst they kept true to their religion ; but his
advice was to feast and entertain Israel kindly, to induce them to for
sake their God, and then the Lord interposed, and defeated this
malicious purpose. Many times God doth that for the sake of religion
which a people that profess religion deserve not : Isa. iv. 5, ' And the
Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Sion, and upon
her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flam
ing fire by night ; for upon all the glory shall be a defence.' Particular
persons fell by those wars, but religion was secured and kept safe.
4. That God can make our very enemies befriend us. Thus he over
ruled the heart of Balaam to bless Israel and curse their enemies :
Prov. xvi. 7, ' When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even
his enemies to be at peace with him.' It is a proverb, not a promise,
and must be interpreted that God can if he will, and oftentimes doth
it for the most part ; for proverbs are taken from what is usual and
common. Thus he made the keeper of the prison kind to Joseph :
Gen. xxxix. 21, 'The Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy,
nnd gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.' And
Laban was smoothed by the way when he pursued after Jacob : Gen.
xxxi. 29, ' The God of your fathers spake unto me yesternight, saying,
Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.'
And Esau was kind to him when Jacob feared him : Gen. xxxiii. 4,
' He ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck, and
kissed him.' But above all, take the instance of the text. Balaam
came contrary to God's warning, having an eager desire after the
reward; his hostile mind continued still, yet he blesseth instead of
cursing, by the overruling power of God. God hath several ways to
accomplish this ; either by bridling their rage, or putting convictions
on their consciences, or changing their hearts, or determining their
interests. It cannot be imagined but that the Creator is able to rule
his creature one way or other ; therefore we should cease from man,
who is not sovereign master of his own affections. When all is
thoroughly considered, God will be found to be the most desirable
friend and dreadful adversary.
5. That we cannot lie open to the plots and snares of those that
hate us till we have provoked our shadow and defence to depart from
us ; for till there was an apostasy from the truth and the right ways
of God, Balaam with all his wiles could have no advantage against
Israel. Balaam's counsel did more hurt than his curse. When we
once contemn God's law, and turn to the wicked, we forfeit our protec
tion, both against open violence and secret machinations. Many things
are contrived against us in the dark that we know not and see not ;
but God watcheth for us : Isa. viii. 10, ' Take counsel together, and
46 SERMON UPON MICAH VL 5.
it shall come to nought, speak the word, and it shall not stand ; for
God is with us.' Keep God with you, and you are safe. All the plots
of the enemies were to separate between them and God ; do not gratify
them herein.
6. Observe God's just judgments on violent and fraudulent enemies.
Balak and Balaam designed a mischief against Israel, but it fell upon
their own pates. Balak lost a considerable part of his territories,
which was allotted as a portion to the tribe of Keuben ; Balaam was
elain by the sword. And thus it usually falls out in the course of God's
providence : Ps. vii. 15, 16, ' He made a pit, and digged it, and is
fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon
his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own
pate.' They are taken in the pit they digged for others ; their treacher
ous designs and attempts return upon themselves, to their own
destruction ; as iron, when it is overheated in the fire, burneth their
fingers which hold it; or like an arrow shot up against heaven, it
cometh down most piercingly upon their own heads : they are taken
in their own pit, poisoned in their own cup ; so that in the issue it
appeareth they laid a snare for themselves ; all is converted to their
own ruin.
7. That God's mercy is not wholly made void to his people, notwith
standing their many sins and failings. He spareth some though he
punisheth others, and remembereth his covenant when our sins deserve
it should be broken off. Alas ! whosoever readeth the carriage of this
people in the wilderness towards God, he shall still find grace striving
with sin, and the goodness of God overcoming the evil of man, and
his fidelity prevailing above their unthankfulness and unfaithfulness.
And the character of this people in the wilderness is just our own in
travelling to heaven. How often do we forfeit the blessing of God's
presence ! But he is not severe upon every failing, and upon repent
ance he is willing to renew covenant with us, and set us in joint again.
Nothing hurteth us more than the sinful provocations of God's people.
Have no hand in them, or if you have been accessory to public guilt,
bemoan it, and humble yourselves before God, and be more aweful
and tender for the future, and you will find God to be a merciful
God.
Thirdly, Why such kind of mercies should not be forgotten. Here
I will prove —
1. That man is apt to forget the great mercies of God, especially
national mercies.
2. That yet these mercies should not be forgotten, both because of
God's command, and the profit of remembering them.
1. That man is marvellous apt to forget these benefits ; therefore
there are so many cautions that we forget them not. In private
mercies : Ps. ciii. 2, ' Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his
benefits ; ' Deut. yiii. 11, ' Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy
God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his
statutes, which I command thee this day;' and ver. 14, 'That thy
heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.' So we
have many precepts : Deut, viii. 2, ' Thou shalt remember all the way
SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5. 47
which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years ; ' 1 Chron. xvi. 12,
' Remember his marvellous works which he hath done, his wonders,
and the judgments of his mouth.' And so many charges and com
plaints : Judges viii. 34, ' The children of Israel remembered not the
Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of their
enemies on every side ; ' Ps. Ixxviii. 11, ' They forgot his works and
his wonders that he had showed them ; ' and Ps. cvi. 13, ' They soon
forgot his works.' And all this is no more than needeth ; for man's
memory is a bad friend to benefits. Injuries are written in marble,
but benefits in the water. Now, as these cautions, charges, and
accusations do respect all mercies, so especially more eminent mercies ;
for it is said, ' He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered,'
Ps. cxi. 4. The great miraculous works of his providence should
make such impression upon men as never to be forgotten, but recorded
and reported for ever. As for great deliverances, God hath appointed
ordinances for a memorial, such as the passover, or the Lord's supper,
to remember our redemption by Christ ; for by these works God
maketh himself a name, by doing great things for his people, 2 Sam.
vii. 23. Eedemption from the tyranny of antichrist is not to be
forgotten.
2. That yet these mercies should not be forgotten, partly because
God hath commanded the contrary, as we have seen. It is not only
a sin to forget his word, but his works ; and partly also because of
the profit.
[1.] That we may be more deeply possessed of the goodness of God.
The ear doth not affect the heart so much as the eye, and what is
felt leaveth a greater impression upon us than what is talked of, for
experience giveth us a more intimate perception of things. The king
of Syria said, ' We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel
are merciful kings,' 1 Kings xx. 31. A rumour and report giveth
encouragement, but actual experience silenceth all contradiction.
When I can say, I know God is not unmindful of his people, but
relieveth them in their great straits, and watcheth over their welfare.
As the apostle : Acts x. 34, ' Of a truth I perceive that God is no
respecter of persons ; ' Ps. cxl. 12, ' I know that the Lord will maintain
the right of the poor, and the cause of the afflicted.' Unquestionably
God will undertake the patronage of his distressed servants when all
other hopes fail them ; meaning, when God did signally defend them
and watch over them.
[2.] To encourage us to walk in his ways. It is our forgetfulness
of God's goodness that maketh us so disobedient and unthankful to
him : Ps. Ixxviii. 7, ' That they might set their hope in God, and not
forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.' Nothing
breedeth a careful uniform obedience to his commands so much as a
grateful remembrance of his mercies. Alas! as our thankfulness is
abated, so is our obedience. God's authority sways the conscience, but
God's love inclines the heart. Therefore mercies should be remem
bered.
[3.] To fortify us against all oppositions and temptations: Deut.
vii. 18, ' Thou shalt not be afraid of them, but shalt well remember
what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt.' It is
48 SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5.
a great comfort to faith to look back upon the former manifestations
of God's power and good-will towards his people. We have manifold
fears and infirmities upon us when we see the power ^ or suspect the
craft of our enemies ; but let us remember former experiences, and that
will be an allay to them. When we see the continuance of his judg
ments so many years, and in so many forms frequently varied, but
still lying upon us, we are filled with many sad thoughts and reason
ing of unbelief ; but we may soon suppress and silence them by the
thoughts of God's power and love heretofore, and the evidences of his
love and good-will and fidelity to all that depend upon him. Former
dealings raise our hearts to the expectation of future mercies.
Use. To press us to this remembrance —
1. Of the great Christian mercies that concern the whole common
wealth of believers ; such as the birth, death, resurrection, and ascen
sion, and intercession of the Lord Jesus. These are the standing
dishes at a believer's table, the constant food for our faith, mercies
never out of season ; these are mercies so general and beneficial, that they
should never be forgotten, but remembered before God. We should
always bless God for Jesus Christ, and desire that the knowledge of
these things may be perpetuated to after ages : Eph. iii. 21, ' Unto him
be glory in the church by Jesus Christ, throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen.'
2. For national mercies, so far as they concern either the first plant
ing or the restoring of Christ's religion, or the maintenance of it against
the eminent open attempts or secret plots of antichristian adversaries.
These should be remembered by us ; partly to awaken our zeal, that
religion thus owned may not die upon our hands ; partly to show our
esteem both of the religion and the mercy of God in owning it ; partly
that we may beg the continuance of it, for every thanksgiving is an
implicit prayer ; partly that we may embolden ourselves against all
the difficulties we may be exposed to in owning the true profession,
and depend on the same God still, and continue faithful to him.
3. Old personal mercies ; though we have new ones daily, yet they
must not jostle out the old. David saith, Ps. ciii. 2, ' Forget not all
his benefits.1
[1.] The smallest mercy should not be despised, partly because
they all come from a great God. A small remembrance from a
prince or potentate we esteem as a great favour ; why not from God
much more ? Ps. cxiii. 6, ' Who humbleth himself to behold the
things that are in heaven and in the earth.' But the invisible hand
that reacheth out our mercies to us is little noted or observed, partly
because they come from the same love the great ones do. You see all
along in the 136th Psalm, 'For his mercy endureth for ever;' ver.
25, 'Who giveth food to all flesh, for his mercy endureth for ever.'
Daily bread as well as those mighty wonders flow from the same
mercy. Nothing should be small where nothing is deserved. And
partly because he that is not faithful in a little will not be faithful in
much ; as in point of sin, he that doth not make conscience of small
sins, will fall into greater. The lesser commands are a rail about the
greater ; so a constant neglect of mercies breedeth a senseless stupidity.
But whose memory is so vast as to carry all matters away with it ?
SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5. 49
Answer — There is an habitual remembrance and an actual com
memoration.
(1.) An habitual remembrance is necessary as to all God's acts of
mercy, not only of the more eminent and signal providences, but of
every day's kindnesses. This habitual remembrance is caused by
taking notice of mercies as they come to us, that by observation of the
multitude of them we may be possessed with an higher esteem of God's
never-failing compassions, and may love him more, and serve him
better. Every experience is as fuel added to the fire, as it increaseth
our love to God, and our trust and dependence upon him.
(2.) An actual commemoration is impossible as to every single mercy ;
it would require that we should live over as long again as we have
done in the world, for God's mercies may be reckoned by the minutes
of our lives.
[2.] In the more eminent passages of our lives, as much as may be
we should be more express and particular ; for particulars are more
affective, such as are awakening opportunities, deliverances in great
dangers and fears, or notable mercies vouchsafed. God helpeth weak
eyes, that cannot see his goodness in a lesser print, by a greater, when
he sets forth his love, power, and goodness in a larger character. To
neglect or forget these showeth that we will little mind the dealings of
God. In short, if we cannot recall the single acts, recollect the sorts
of mercies ; as painters, when they draw a crowd, paint a cluster of
heads. We cannot reckon up all the mercies of God in order : Ps. xl.
5, ' Many, 0 Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast
done, and thy thoughts which are to us-wards, they cannot be reckoned
up in order unto thee : if I would declare and speak of them, they are
more than can be numbered.' If we do not always actually remember,
yet still cherish an habitual remembrance, or a constant sense of the
Lord's goodness to us ; this will help us against our distrustful fears :
Ps. Ixxvii. 10, ' And I said, This is my infirmity : but I will remember
the years of the right hand of the Most High.' David's former experi
ences were a great relief to him. So against discontent and murmur
ing : Job ii. 10, ' Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and not
evil ? ' This will be a check to sin : Ezra ix. 13, 14, ' And after all
that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass,
seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities
deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this, should we again
break thy commandments ? ' And a strong impulsion to obedience :
Josh. xxiv. 31, ' And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua,
and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which
I had known all the works of the Lord that he had done for
Israel.'
Directions. 1. Be affected with mercies if you would remember
them ; for deep affections leave a print upon us which cannot easily
be defaced ; men remember what they care for.
2. But the special way to remember them is to improve them, to
grow better for them, to increase in faith, love, and obedience ; then
Christians will remember them by a good token. If you let them pass
as common accidents, no wonder the impression such providences
make is soon worn off. A man that hath well profited by a sermon
VOL. XVTII. D
50 SERMON UPON MICAH VI. 5.
will not easily forget it : Ps. cxix. 93, ' I will never forget thy precepts,
for with them thou hast quickened me.'
3. You should often call yourselves to an account : Ps. cxxxix. 17,
' How precious are thy thoughts to me, 0 Lord ! how great is the
sum of them ! ' By the thoughts of God he meaneth the various dispen
sations of his providence. The variety of mercies is infinite, that it is
impossible for us to get to the bottom of them ; when we come to a
reckoning we are amazed.
4. Consider our ingratitude is aggravated by every mercy received,
especially eminent and signal mercies. This is the ground of God's
plea and controversy against his people in the text ; and 1 Kings, xi.
9, 'And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was
turned away from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared to him
twice.' If your hearts decline, and depart from God after many en
couragements to cleave to him, how just will your condemnation be !
But God will add mercy to mercy when you are thankful for former
merciea
SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10.
Wlio is among you that fearetk the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his
servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light! Let him
trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. — ISAIAH
1.10.
IN the words there are three propositions —
1. God's people may sometimes be in such a condition as to walk
in darkness and see no light.
2. In the most sinking and dark times their great duty is to trust
in the Lord.
3. They that fear God and obey him are most encouraged to trust
in him.
For the first point, that God's people may sometimes be in such a
condition as to walk in darkness and see no light.
First, I will open this helpless and hopeless condition, which is here
expressed by ' walking in darkness/ and ' seeing no light.'
1. In the general, it noteth great afflictions and dangers, which
light upon the church and people of God ; as Lam. iii. 2, ' He hath led
me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light ; ' that is, into a
very afflicted condition.
2. It noteth the continuance and increase of affliction, when our
night still groweth darker, and all means of relief are utterly invisible
to us : Isa. lix. 9, 'We wait for light, but behold obscurity ; for bright
ness, but we walk in darkness.' It doth not only overtake them, but
they had waited long for a change of condition.
/ 3. When we are perplexed and embrangled in our troubles, and miss
^the true way of support under them. We are said to walk in darkness
when we want either the light of direction or consolation.
[1.] The light of direction; and this with respect either to the
understanding of our outward and common affairs, or with respect to
our duty towards God under such afflictions.
(1.) As to the understanding or right management of our common
affairs ; being troubled and amazed, we are not able to take any good
counsel and advice : Isa. lix. 10, ' We grope for the wall like the blind,
and we grope as if we had no eyes ; we stumble at noon-day as in the
night.' So Job v. 14, ' They met with darkness in the day-time, and
grope in the noon-day as in the night/ It is a great judgment of God
upon a people when counsel is perished from them, and they have not
52 SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10.
the judgment of ordinary men. It is threatened as a punishment on
the disobedient : Deut. xxviii. 29, ' Thou shalt grope at noon-day as
the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways,
and thou shalt only be oppressed and spoiled evermore, and none shall
save thee.' Now thus it often befalleth the people of God for their
disobedience ; they know not what course to take for their common
safety.
(2.) The next is a greater evil, when we understand not our duty
towards God, and the reason of our troubles. It is some comfort to a
child of God when he kuoweth his duty under such a condition ; a
speaking rod, though it be si»art, is more comfortable than a dumb
rod : Ps. xciv. 12, ' Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, and
teachest him out of thy law.' Our advantage cometh not by being
{afflicted, but by being instructed in our afflictions, when the rod
'maketh us tractable and pliable to God's counsel: Job xxxvi. 10,
' He openeth their ears to discipline ;' and ver. 15, ' He openeth their
ears in oppression.' It is the property of beasts to feel the smart of
the rod, but men especially. Good men should know the use of the
rod. Our condition is not altogether dark when God hath humbled
and instructed his people under his chastenings, that they may get
good by their chastenings ; but when they are still in the dark as to the
reason and end of their troubles, it is the more grievous.
[2.] When we want the light of consolation, and that two ways
— either by present experience of God's love, or hopes of future
deliverance.
(1.) As to present experience of God's love: Bom. v. 3-5, 'And
not only so, but we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation
worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope ; and
hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us/ It is promised
to the upright that light shall arise to them in obscurity : Ps. cxii. 4,
' Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.' Now it is very
sad and afflicting to them when they cannot get a comfortable and
satisfactory sight of God's love to them, or presence with them, or mind-
fulness of them in their afflictions, but he hideth himself from them.
This is the bitterest ingredient in their sorrows, that God hideth
his face from them; they should not else resent so much other
sorrows. The favour of God is the godly man's choice : Ps. iv. 6, 7,
* Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put
gladness in my heart, more than in the time when their corn and wine
increased.' And their life : Ps. xxx. 5, ' In his favour is life ; ' and
therefore they cannot but be most affected with the sense of the want
of it. This is the trouble of their trouble, and maketh their darkness
to become thick darkness.
(2.) As to future deliverance, when they cannot look through the
cloud of present trouble with any hope of relief, or have not any pro
bable appearance of any good issue : Ps. Ixxiv. 9, ' We see not our
signs ; there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any
that knoweth how long.' This is very sad. Troubles that have an
end are the better borne ; but when we are altogether puzzled when we
think of a remedy and an escape, then we are overwhelmed, like a
SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10. 53
man shipwrecked and swimming for life in the vast ocean, and sees no
banks or land near.
Secondly, The reasons why this may befall the people of God.
There are reasons on man's part, and on God's part.
First, On man's part.
1. The astonishing power of sore troubles : Ps. Ix. 3, ' Thou hast
showed thy people hard things, thou hast made us to drink of the wine
of astonishment.' They are amazed with afflictions, like unto a man
that hath drunk some intoxicating drink which had put him beside him
self. They are in the dark about God's mind in such dispensations,
and wonder why God suffereth his people, whom he hath chosen and
loved, to go to ruin, especially by the malignity of instruments more
wicked than themselves : ' When the wicked devoureth the man that
is more righteous than he,' Hab. ii. 13.
2. From that weakness, bondage, and legal dejection which yet re-
maineth upon their spirits, so that they are not able to look beyond
their present condition ; and if it be evil, they make it worse by their
own apprehensions and diffidence. It is dark now, and therefore they
think it will never be day ; they see not God for the present, and
therefore they conclude they shall not see him. As in prosperity
God's children are apt to promise themselves too great a stability and
continuance: Ps. xxx. 6, 'In my prosperity I said, I shall never be
moved ; ' so in adversity they are no less ready to heighten their trouble
by fearful apprehensions of the perpetuity thereof : Ps. Ixxvii. 7-9,
' Will the Lord cast off for ever ? and will he be favourable no more ?
is his mercy clean gone for ever ? doth his promise fail for evermore ?
hath God forgot to be gracious ? hath he in anger shut up his tender
mercies ? ' Trouble of our own making breedeth the greatest dejection.
They mistake God's dispensation, and make their present condition
sadder and worse than indeed it is. It would ease us of our greatest
pressures if we would look off a little from the present, and consider
how God can work contrary to our probabilities and fears. Contrary
to our probabilities : Zech. viii. 6, ' Thus saith the Lord of hosts, If
it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these
days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes, saith the Lord of
hosts ? ' And contrary to our fears : Isa. li. 12, 13, ' I, even I, am he
that comforteth you : who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of
a man that shall die, and of the son of man, which shall be made as
grass ; and forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth
the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth ; and hast feared
continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he
were ready to destroy ? and where is the fury of the oppressor ? '
Secondly, On God's part ; he bringeth us into such a condition —
1. To show his sovereignty, and that he is Lord both of light and
darkness : Job xxxiv. 29, ' When he giveth quietness, who then can
make trouble ? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him?
whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only.' Our
weal and woe is in his hand : Isa. xlv. 7, ( I form the light, and create
darkness ; I make peace, and create evil : I the Lord do all these
things.' All is at God's disposing, to give it to whom he will. Some
times he giveth light and peace, nor will a dog move the tongue. So
54 SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10.
long as he pleaseth, neither policy nor power will be able to make his
gift void, either as to nations or persons. He hath a negative voice :
men would trouble, devils would trouble, but if God say, No, all is
quiet in kingdoms, families, or souls. If he justifieth, who can con
demn ? So when, for the punishment of sin or trial of faith, he lets
out trouble, who can help it? So he may desert nations, and leave
them without counsel or strength. So when God deserts a person, all
his comfort and quietness is gone. Men under trouble are in a sad
and hopeless plight as to any help, till God help them ; and if he hide
his face, who shall ease them of their trouble, till God himself shine
through that cloud ? All the favour of men will not do it till God
appear.
2. To check our curiosity. We look to events rather than duties ;
we would be lazy, not labour, if we knew our succeeding mercies ; or
we should be overwhelmed with grief if we had a foresight of all our
trials which are to come. Therefore God puts a veil upon his provi
dence, and will not let us look to the end of his designs : Isa. xlviii. 7,
'Lest thou shouldst say, Behold,.! knew them.' Therefore we are in
the dark, know not the particular issues and events of things, and can
scarce support ourselves with the general promises ; and so walk in
darkness and see no light.
Thirdly, That God may thereby promote the ends of his providence,
which is to humble his people, and try them, and to do them good.
1. For the greater humiliation. When Christ was humbled for our
sins he was at a non plus, as if he knew not what to say or do : John
xii. 27, ' Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say ? ' So to
humble his people thoroughly, he driveth them to an utter exigence ;
all their hopes and probabilities are spent, and they know not what to
do or say ; as in Jehoshaphat's instance : 2 Chron. xx. 12, ' We know
not what to do, but our eyes are unto thee.' God's children may be
shut up on all hands from any imaginable hope of a good issue, yea,
or any sight of God and token of his love.
2. To try them, their faith, and love, and patience. Their faith,
which is never put to a sound trial till all their common probabilities
be spent. 'Faith is the evidence of things not seen,' Heb. xi. 1.
When God is out of sight, and comfort is out of sight, and deliverance
is out of sight, then is a time to depend upon God : Micah vii. 8,
' When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.' Depen
dence upon an unseen God, resolute adherence to a withdrawn God, is
the flower and glory of faith. When we are left to a naked faith, and
a naked word or promise of God, yet then to adhere to him, and wait
upon him for what is contradicted by sense, this is to believe in hope
against hope. So for the trial of our love ; to run to him when he
seemeth to cast us off ; to fear him for his mercies : Hosea iii. 5,- ' They
shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days ; ' and praise
him for his judgments: Isa. xxvi. 8, 'In the way of thy judgments,
0 Lord, we have waited for thee ; the desire of our soul is to thy name,
and to the remembrance of thee ; ' to rejoice in him when he maketh
all things desolate about us : Hab. iii. 17, 18, 'Although the fig-tree shall
not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labour of the olive
shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off
SEKMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10. 55
from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stall ; yet will I rejoice
in .the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.' To own him' as a
good God when we are under his strokes, and as a gracious father
when he frowneth as well as when he smileth, here is faith indeed.
So our patience is never tried in a twilight so much as in utter dark
ness : James i. 4, ' Let patience have epyov re\eiov, its perfect work.
Patience is not tried as long as we have worldly supports to bear us
up; but in great, long, and sharp afflictions it is patience indeed.
While we can make up ourselves another way, our submission to God
is not fully tried.
3. To do us good, God would reach our corruptions so as to purge
them out : Isa. xxvii. 9, ' By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged,
and this is all the fruit to take away his sin.' We would have no
trial but that which should touch none of our sins and corruptions ;
for we would not have the flesh displeased, or, if it be, yet but a little.
Now trial will not do us good unless it vex our corruptions. A sound
purge will carry away our pride, sensuality, worldliness ; a light purge
doth but gently move it. When the vexing trials come, then we are
' like a wild bull in a net/ Isa. li. 20. Till we see no way to escape,
we overlook our case. Yea, God's children are not humbled for their
spiritual pride till trouble be so confounding that God is missed, and
they left in the dark in their distress. Now, to be so far misted as to
lose a sight of God under trouble, that is an humbling dispensation
indeed.
JJse 1. If God's people may be in such a condition, let us bless God
that he dealeth more gently with us. If our natural comforts be
lessened, yet they are not wholly gone. Let us bless God that in the
midst of judgment he remembereth mercy: Hab. ii. 3, 'For the vision
is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not
lie : though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will
not tarry/ That he measureth our burdens by our strength and ability
to bear them : 1 Cor. x. 13, ' There hath no temptation taken you but
euch as is common to man : but God is faithful, who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that you are able ; but will with the tempta
tion also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.'
That he refresheth our souls with his love when his chastenings are
upon us : 2 Cor. i. 5, ' For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so
our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.' That he smileth when the
world 'frowneth ; that it is not an evil, and an only evil, but there are
strange intermixtures of blessings with our crosses ; that he doth not
forsake us utterly : Job xx. 26, ' All darkness shall be hid in his secret
places/ speaking of the wicked ; that it is not wholly and altogether
darkness, without any light, or comfort, or counsel for the present, or
hope of issue for the future.
Use 2. Let us prepare for such a time ; for none of us can promise
ourselves a total exemption from such kind of providences.
But what preparations must we make ?
I answer — Stock the heart with some maxims or holy truths, which
may be a support to you.
1. That in our darkest condition God seeth us, though we do not see
him. So the psalmist found by experience: Fs. Ixxiii. 22, 23, 'So
56 SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10.
foolish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee : neverthe
less I am continually with thee ; thou hast holden me by the right
hand.' David could not see God, for he had brutish thoughts of
providence, as he acknowledged there ; that God was indifferent to
good and evil, did no more care for the one than for the other ; yet
God took care of him, and held him in the arms of his providence
when he questioned it. So Job xxiii. 8-10, ' Behold, I go forward,
but he is not there ; and backward, but I cannot perceive him : on
the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him : he
hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him. But he
knoweth the way that I take : when he hath tried me, I shall come
forth as gold.' Job had lost the sight of God, but God had not lost
the sight of Job, for he knew his sincerity, and would in time clear it
to his comfort. So that many times we are like the blind man ; though
he could not see Christ, yet he never left calling upon the Son of David,
till he answered to his name, and came and cured him.
2. That in our distresses we are apt to foster groundless mistakes
about God's love, and so darken our own estate more than needeth.
Sense maketh lies of God, and our hearts will be made to recant what
they say in their haste, as. David often found in his experience: Ps.
xxxi. 22, ' I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes ;
nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried
unto thee.' God looketh not after me, but leaveth me to inevitable
ruin ; and at that very time God was about to give him audience : Ps.
cxvi. 10-12, ' I was greatly afflicted : I said in my haste, All men are
liars. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me ? '
He referreth to the messages brought him from godly Samuel, and
Nathan, and other prophets ; and being far from the effects of them,
he began to suspect the truth of them. Thus do our calamities trans
port us with fears and irregular thoughts and apprehensions of God's
dealings with us : but we must not judge of our condition by our
temptations, but God's promises ; and faith must shut our eyes against
whatsoever would breed mistakes and quarrels against God's provi
dence.
3. That a dark hour is many times the forerunner of a comfortable
morning, and great and growing difficulties may be made means of a
greater good to us. For God loveth to bring light out of darkness,
and to give the valley of Achor for a door of hope, and to give meat
out of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong, and to bring about
his people's mercies by means very improbable and contrary, that he
may train^ us up to hope against hope. Deliverance, when it is
a-coming, it is not always in sight ; rather all appearances are contrary.
He will call for water when he intendeth to give wine, and rebuke her
as a dog whom he meanethto treat as a daughter of Abraham: Isa.
xlv. 15, ' Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, 0 God of Israel,
the saviour.' Though a saviour, yet he hideth himself under a cloud
and veil of difficulties and contrary appearances.
4. That however matters go, it will certainly be well with them
that fear God, even because they fear him^ were there no other
evidence and proof of it, as it will be ill with the wicked, even though
they prosper: Eccles. viii. 11, 12, 'Because sentence against an evil
SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10. 57
work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men
is .fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred
times," and his days be prolonged ; yet surely I know that it shall be
well with them that fear God, which fear before him ; ' Isa. iii. 10, 11,
' Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him, for they shall /h<
eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked ! it shall be ill with
him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him/ If this be
believed, we need fear nothing, if we keep the way of the Lord, and do
continue waiting and depending upon him. We cannot absolutely
promise you temporal deliverance, nor all those spiritual things which
you desire, as to the degree ; but this we can promise you, it shall be
well with them that fear God, and well with the righteous. Temporal
things are not of that moment that we should be much troubled about
them ; we have an hope above them, and our happiness lieth not at
stake when they are in danger. If God will bring us safe to glory,
as he will those that continue with patience in well-doing, it is enough ;
nothing can go amiss to him that is found in the way of his duty :
though the way be foul and narrow, if it leadeth unto glory, it is
enough ; it will be well in the issue.
5. That we must not dote upon sensible consolation. The merciful
nature of God should be a support to us, though we see notning of the
effects of it in the course of his dealings with us ; and we should believe
his love when we do not actually feel it : Job x. 13, ' And these things
hast thou hid in thine heart ; I know that this is with thee/ He
speaketh of his favourable inclination to show pity to his creatures.
We are not able always to reconcile his present dispensations with his
gracious nature, nor our former experience of his goodness ; yet faith
must not quit its holdfast, but we must see what is hid in God's heart,
and comfort ourselves with concealed favour and mercy, when we
cannot comfort ourselves with felt favour and mercy. Though
mercies be not visible and obvious to sense, yet the disposition and
inclination is ever in God unchangeable and sure. A withdrawn God
is a merciful God still.
, 6. That God can draw light out of darkness, and give light in
darkness, and turn darkness into light. God can draw light out of
darkness : Gen. i. 2, 3, ' The earth was without form, and void, and
darkness was upon the face of the deep ; and the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light, and
there was light/ He can give light in darkness : Exod. x. 22, 23,
' And there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days ;
and they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three
days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings ; '
Ps. xviii. 28, ' For thou wilt light my candle : the Lord my God will
enlighten my darkness/ And he can turn darkness into light, that is,
change and alter our condition : Isa. ix. 2, ' The people that have
walked in darkness have seen a great light ; they that dwell in the
land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined ;' Eph.
v. 8, ' Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord/
7. When you cannot interpret the promises of God by his providen
tial dealing with you, you must interpret his dealing by his promises :
Ps. Ixxiii. 16, 17, ' When I thought to know this, it was too painful
58 SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10.
for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God ; then understood I
their end.' - His promises are as the light part of the cloud, his provi
dential dealings as the dark part of the cloud.
8. You must distinguish between a part of God's work and the whole
entire frame of it. The taking of a watch asunder to mend it, an
unskilful man, when he seeth every pin and wheel taken out, will think
this is undoing ; but the skilful artist knoweth this is mending and
repairing : Zech. xiv. 7, ' But it shall be one day, which shall be known
unto the3 Lord, not day nor night; but it shall come to pass that at
evening-time it shall be light.' After the longest suspense there is
comfort at the end.
9. That is not best for us which we think best : Mat. xvii. 4, ' It is
good for us to be here.' We think it best to be at the top, and have
an inspection over affairs, in ease, and in an uninterrupted prosperity.
Peter was upon Mount Tabor, but Christ saw it fit to bring him thence,
and expose him to the winnowings of Satan, and to penitential weeping,
that is wholesome to the soul ; and afterwards to employ him in the
labours of the gospel, and then to die a cruel death. Paul thought
it best to be rid of the thorn in the flesh, but God thought not so :
2 Cor. xii. 9, ' My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made
perfect in weakness.' When we are lowest, we are most humble.
God's thoughts are not as our thoughts.
10. That God's greatest severity to his people is consistent with his
covenant love : Ps. Ixxxix. 32, 33, ' Then will I visit their transgressions
with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving-
kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail.' There is no contradiction between covenant kindness and
hard dispensations ; they may be easily reconciled.
For the second point, that in dark and gloomy times our great
duty is to trust in the Lord. This is prescribed here, and in other
places commended to us : Isa. viii. 17, ' I will wait upon the Lord,
that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.'
We should not give over seeking for a withdrawn God, but seek, and
wait, and look for him. If you keep his place warm in your hearts by
your estimation and affection, he will come again : Job xxxv. 14,
' Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before
him ; therefore trust thou in him.' Times may come when the saints
may say they do not see, yea, they shall not see him ; yet they must
resolve to lie at God's door till relief come. Trust then in him : Job
xiii. 15, ' Though he slay me, yet I will trust in him.' Though they be
under sad dispensations already, and look for sadder, yet they resolve
to keep up their dependence, and will not be beaten off from God by
any rebukes of providence. ' No trouble, how great soever, is a warrant
to quit our faith. / Faith must not quit God when he seemeth to quit
us, but must take him for a friend, and put a good construction upon
his dealings when he showeth himself an enemy ; so that in a sinking,
helpless, and hopeless condition this is a great remedy.
The reasons are taken from the act and the object. The act is
trusting and staying ; the object is God, or the name of God. The
benefit we have by this act, the encouragement we have from this
object.
SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10. 59
1. The utility and profit of trusting : 2 Chron. xx. 20, ' Believe in
the Lord your God, so shall you be established/ If you would be
delivered or supported, trust and stay upon the Lord. This allayeth
our fears : Ps. Ivi. 3, ' At what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee ; '
Ps. cxii. 7, ' He shall not be afraid of evil tidings ; his heart is fixed,
trusting in the Lord.' A Christian is, or may be, immovable in all
changes of condition. It overcometh our sorrows. There was a storm
in David's spirit, how doth he calm it ? Ps. xlii. 5, ' Why art thou cast
down, 0 my soul ? and why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou
in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance ; ' and
ver. 11, 'Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou
disquieted within me ? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him,
who is the health of my countenance, and my God.' He is at it again
and again. It keepeth us from fretting : Ps. xxxvii. 7, ' Rest in the
Lord, and wait patiently for him ; fret not thyself because of him who
prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices
to pass.' It preserveth us from fainting : Ps. xxvii. 13, ' I had fainted,
unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of
the living.' Yea, from defection and apostasy : Heb. iii. 12, ' Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief,
in departing from the living God.' They that cannot trust God cannot
be long true to him.
2. There is much in the name of God to encourage trust : Ps. ix.
10, 'They that know thy name will put their trust in thee.' The
name of God is anything by which he is made known. It compriseth
two things — what God is in himself, and what he will be to his
people.
[1.] What he is in himself ; a wise, powerful, and holy being : his
three grand attributes are wisdom, goodness, and power. Now nothing
can be amiss that is done by a God of infinite wisdom, power, and
goodness ; and what may here not be expected from him ? He that
can do all things can do whatever you stand in need of; he that
knoweth all things can never be at a loss, either in preventing evil or
bestowing good ; he that is so good will not be backward to pity
and help us. Our choicest consolations are fetched out of God's nature ;
in his works we see much of him, but in his nature we see an infinite
sea of all perfections.
[2.] Consider what God will be to his people, in his providence, in
his covenant
(1.) In his providence. In his works he discovereth his nature.
As he is a powerful God, so nothing can be done but his leave and
hand is in it, and it is governed by his counsel and will. Your per
secutors cannot stir or move or breathe without him. The saints are
in his hand : Deut. xxxiii. 3, ' Yea, he loved the people ; all his saints
are in thy hand.' We are in a friend's hand : John vi. 20, ' It is I,
be not afraid.' His goodness : God is concerned in th e condition of
his people as well if not more than themselves ; they do not suffer
but he sympathiseth : Isa. Ixiii. 9, 'In all their afflictions he is
afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them ; in his love and in
his pity he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all
the days of old ; ' Zech. ii. 8, ' He that toucheth you toucheth the apple
60 SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10.
of his eye.' In short, he is full of tenderness and moderation. His
wisdom : we may trust his wisdom in carving out a portion for us,
better than our own understanding : ' Should it be according to thy
mind ? ' Job xxxiv. 33. Men would have all things done according to
their own will : no, better let God alone with it ; for he is a God
of judgment, and guideth all things with great moderation and equity :
Job xxxiv. 23, ' For he will not lay upon man more than right, that
he should enter into judgment with God.' He will not afflict above
deserving : Ezra ix. 13, 'And after all that is come upon us for our
evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast
punished us less than our iniquities deserve.' We are in captivity ;
we might have been in hell. Nor beyond strength : 1 Cor. x. 13,
'Who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able.'
Above what he hath given, or is ready to give ; nor more than to do
them good by it : Rom. viii. 28, ' All things shall work together for
good to them that love God.' Now, which is most just, that we
should have the disposal of ourselves, or God ? He will do what he
pleaseth, whether we be pleased or displeased.
(2.) In his covenant, the foundation of Which is laid in the blood of
Christ, and the benefits offered there are pardon .of sin and eternal
life. Pardon of sin is a cure for our greatest and deepest trouble.
Eternal life answereth all our desires; this light affliction is not
comparable to it : 2 Cor. iv. 17, ' For our light . affliction, which is
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory.'
Use. Well, then—
1. Trust in the Lord against carnal reason, when carnal reason
doth not befriend your trust. They that trust God no farther than
they can see him, they do not trust God, but their outward probabi
lities. God hath only the name. Yea, when carnal reason contradicts
your trust and checketh all hope : ' Though he slay me, yet I will
trust in him/ Job xiii. 15.
2. Trust God against carnal affection; trust his wise and. holy
government. We would fain interpose to save our lusts, which some
times need a sharp cure. God's quarrel is not against your persons,
but your sins ; he desireth not your destruction, but your humiliation
and reformation. The dearest loss is your sin, and are you loath to
spare that ? There is nothing so sad which befalleth the people of
God but it tendeth to prevent something which is sadder, which
would otherwise befall them : 1 Cor. xi. 32, ' But when we are
judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be con
demned with the world ; ' Ps. xciv. 12, 13, ' Blessed is the man
whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law, that
thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be
digged for the wicked.'
3. Trust him upon his gospel assurance, even against the terms of
his own law. We may change courts : Ps. cxxx. 3, 4, ' If thou
shouldst mark iniquity, 0 Lord, who shall stand? But there is
forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared ;' Ps. cxliii. 2,
'Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no
man living be justified.'
SERMON UPON ISAIAH L. 10. 61
For the third point, they that fear God and obey him are most
encouraged to trust God.
1. Because precepts and promises go hand in hand, so must our
trust and obedience : Ps. cxlvii. 11, ' The Lord taketh pleasure in,
them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy ; ' Ps. cxix. 166,
' Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.'
2. Sincerity giveth confidence and boldness, and helpeth our trust.
They can delight in the Almighty, and lift up their face to God : 1
John iii. 21, ' If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence
towards God.'
3. The controversy is taken up when we desire to keep the way of
obedience. Sin is the thorn in our sore which caused the first pain :
Lam. iii. 39, ' Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the
punishment of his sin ? ' God hath no quarrel with them, but about
their sins.
Use. Then, if we would trust ourselves with God's holy government,
let us fear his name, and obey the voice of his servant, and return to
the obedience we owe to our creator, and put ourselves into the hands
of our redeemer.
SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27.
TJierefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray tJiis prayer
unto thee. — 2 SAM. vii. 27.
THERE are several things remarkable in this context.
1. David's thankful mind, ver. 1, 2. I may illustrate it by the
opposite practice of Nebuchadnezzar : Dan. iv. 30, ' Is not this great
Babylon, which I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the
might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ? ' And of the
Israelites in their new dwellings at Jerusalem : Hag. i. 2-4, ' This
people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house
should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the
prophet, saying, Is it a time for you, 0 ye, to dwell in your ceiled
nouses, and this house lie waste ? ' All our comforts are used accord
ing to the temper of the party that enjoyeth them, either as an
occasion to the flesh, or as incentives of godliness. A gracious
spirit looketh upon common mercies as discovering their author, and
pointing to their end ; they came from God, and must be used for
God. A proper meditation for you when you enjoy commodious
habitations, walk in your pleasant gardens, or get any repose and
ease from troubles. In the midst of the plentiful accommodations of
the present life, What have I done for God, who giveth me richly to
enjoy all these things ?
2. Nathan's innocent and pious mistake : ver. 3, ' Go, do all that is
in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee.' - This Nathan spake not by a
prophetical, but private spirit. The prophets might err when they spake
out of their own human spirit, but as moved by the Holy Ghost they
erred not. The prophet is to be excused, because the intention of David's
zeal was good, and a meet expression of his thankfulness to God. God
himself liked the intention in itself : 1 Kings viii. 18, ' The Lord said
unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build an house
unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.' And besides,
he might tell him, ' The Lord is with thee,' from former observation.
God had accompanied David with his Spirit and blessing in all his
enterprises. Well, then, this he said not by divine revelation, but of
himself. Herein he was faulty, that he consulted not with God. And
it teacheth us this lesson, that in all businesses of moment and concern
ment to God's glory, we must ask God's leave, and counsel, and blessing:
Prov. iii. 5, 6, ' Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to
SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27. 63
thine own understanding: in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths.'
• 3. The next thing observable is the Lord's rectifying the prophet's
mistake by a special revelation, ver. 4-17, wherein the Lord recapitu-
lateth the several favours and honours he had put upon his servant
David, with promises of blessing upon his family ; but denieth him,
this one honour of putting his designs in execution of building him an
house, because that was reserved for his son, a more peaceable prince,
and whose hands were not defiled with blood. And it teacheth us this
lesson, that we should be content with those other honours and favours
which we have received at God's hands, though he in his wise providence
deny us the liberty of perfecting some enterprises which we have designed
for his glory. If God cut us off in the midst of our service, or interrupt
us in our work, he knoweth how to carry it on by others ; and it is a
mercy that we have had his presence hitherto in former services. God
had been with David whithersoever he went, but would not allow him
to build him an house.
4. David's carriage upon this message : ver. 18, 'He went and sat
before the Lord,' or abode in his presence, and expresseth himself both
by way of praise and prayer.
[1.] Praise, in the 18th, 19th, and 20th, to the end of the 24th verse ;
acknowledging that all his goodness to him and his people came from
his mercy and truth, for his word's sake, and according to his own heart,
to fulfil his covenant, and his self-inclination to do good ; admiring
the greatness of these favours to such an unworthy creature as himself :
' Who am I, 0 Lord, and what is my house, that thou hast brought
me hither ? ' &c. ; * And is this the manner of man, 0 Lord God ? ' &c.
[2.] Prayer, from the 25th verse to the end ; wherein he beggeth a
performance of the things promised ; showing that he should not dare
to ask and expect these things if God had not prevented him by his
word : ' Thou hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee
an house ; therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this
prayer unto thee.'
In which words there is a directory for prayer. And (1.) The
qualification of the person, ' Thy servant ; ' (2.) The sincerity of the
prayer, ' Hath found in his heart ; ' (3.) The instance and vehemency
of it, in the doubling of the words ; not simply ' to pray,' but ' to pray
this prayer:' James v. 17, 'He prayed earnestly,' Trpoa-evxfj irpocryv^aTo —
he prayed in his prayer. It is one thing to say a prayer, another to
pray a prayer. (4.) His reverence, ' Unto thee ; ' or, as it is more
emphatically repeated, 1 Chron. xvii. 25, ' Therefore thy servant hath
found in his heart to pray before thee/ When we set ourselves as
before the invisible God. And that may be part of the meaning of
the phrase used, ver. 18, ' He sat before the Lord.'
But the main circumstance which I shall insist upon is that,
' Found in his heart.'
Doct. That the birthplace or proper rise of prayer is in the heart;
or, whatever prayer we pray to God must be found in our hearts before
it be uttered with our tongues.
First, I shall inquire concerning the sense and meaning of this
expression, what it is to find a prayer in our hearts. That implieth
64 SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII, 27.
two things — when we pray as inclined, and pray as encouraged. And
so David must be interpreted here : ' I have found in my heart ; ' that
is, I am inclined by a due esteem and desire of the blessing promised ;
for he admireth it, and was exceedingly ravished with the thought of
it, that God should have such respect to his house and family. Again,
' I have found in my heart ; ' that is, I am encouraged by the Lord's
goodness, and the experience of his blessing, and the assurance of his
promises. So in every general case, all that would pray must find in
their hearts to pray to God ; that is, be inclined, and be encouraged.
1. We are inclined or stirred up to pray for such good things as we
ask of God.
[1.] By a sense of our wants : James, i. 5, ' If any man lack wisdom,
let him ask of God ; ' and Heb. iv. 16, ' Let us come boldly to the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in a time
of need.' Our addresses to God must begin in a broken-hearted sense
of our own wants, otherwise it is but an empty, careless, formal way of
praying. We have a quick and tender feeling in all bodily necessities ;
the worst will express themselves sensibly enough in such cases : Hosea
vii. 14, ' They have not cried unto me with their hearts when they howled
upon their beds ; they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they
rebel against me.' Those that rebelled against God howled upon their
beds for corn and wine, as beasts will make their moan when pinched
with hunger ; but in soul-necessities we are not so sensible ; and prayers
put up without sense of want and need are but dead and lazy. Many
think their condition so good that they need not trouble God about it,
but they can manage it well enough themselves, and therefore either
pray not at all, or without poverty of spirit, and their prayers are but
an empty compliment to God. But now a godly man is sensible of
his daily necessities ; he is kept poor in spirit, and seeth that he can
not subsist a minute without God, and that he is environed with
dangers, and obliged to a multitude of duties, which require assistance
from above ; that Satan is continually tempting, and he is continually
sinning ; and so he needs daily pardon, and daily sustentation, as well
as daily bread : ' Give us arj/j,epov, this day our daily bread,' Mat. vi. 11 ;
and that if he should forget to pray to God, he should forget to bid
himself good-morrow or good-day. In short, the more men exercise
themselves unto godliness, the more their necessities and wants will
be discovered to them. Painted fire needeth no fuel, but real fire must
still be supplied with matter for it to feed upon.
[2.] An esteem and value of the blessings asked. All such as pray
aright must have a high estimation of what they seek ; for if we do
not set a value upon it, we shall neither seek it earnestly, nor will God
care to give it us ; for he will not thrust spiritual comforts upon them
that despise them. Paul was so earnest to have Christ and his benefits,
because he ' counted all things but dung and dross that he might win
Christ, and be found in him,' &c., Phil. iii. 7-9. David prized com
munion with God, therefore sought it so earnestly : Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One
thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I might
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.' Temporal
things are usually overprized, therefore these things are dispensed with
a looser providence, without prayer, and many times to those that never
SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27. 65
pray ; and to the godly by way of overplus, to direct us to value spirit
ual blessings, and to seek them in the first place : Mat. vi. 33, ' Seek
first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, and all these
things shall be added to you.' First in our prayers, as well as first in
our endeavours.
[3.] Desire ; that must urge us to ask, and doth both open our mouths
wide, and put life and vehemency into our requests and supplications.
There is a good rule, that will be of general use to us : Desire nothing
in your hearts but what you can pray for, and pray for nothing but
what you desire. The former part checketh both worldly and fleshly
lusts. Have I, or can I have, so little reverence for the Godhead as
apparently to ask meat for my lusts, so much by the year, such dishes
at my table, so much in lands and honours ? But the latter checks
formality and deadness in prayer. Desire must go before and all along
with the request, and the heart must be the fountain of the words ;
otherwise it is but a vain babbling. Much speaking is not praying.
Words are but the body, desires are the soul of prayer ; as the body
without the soul is dead, so are words without a spirit of desire. There
fore we should be more careful of affections than words : Eccles. v. 1, 2,
' Be not hasty to utter anything before God,' <fec. The prayer must be
framed in such words as we can ; but our chief business is to awaken
and call in our affections from wandering after worldly things, or to set
our hearts to seek the Lord. The Spirit's help in prayer is not seen
in the flow of words, but in a-revciy/Aol? a\a\ijroi<;, ' Groanings that
cannot be uttered,' Horn. viii. 26 ; holy ardours and groans to God, and
desires of his help. A prayer without life and affection is tlmribulum
sine prunis — a censer without fire.
[4.] Prayer must not only come from the present desires, but from
the habitual inclination of the mind and heart towards God and
heavenly things, which is the great effect of healing and sanctifying
grace : Ps. cxix. 36, ' Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to
covetousness.' This is the radical inclination of grace, to be carried
out to God, and all things that belong to God, as they more or less lead
to him, more than to honours, pleasures, profits. As prayer is not a
lip-labour, so it is not a work of the mere human spirit, or a fruit of
memory and invention, but an exercise of grace. A man may exercise
his natural faculties in prayer, when he doth not exercise the graces of
the Spirit in prayer. Grace is given as the remote preparation to
prayer : . Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon the house of David, and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication ; and
they shall look on him whom they have pierced,' &c. We oftener pray
from our memories than our consciences, and from our consciences than
our affections, and from our affections as presently stirred, but soon
checked and controlled, than from a fixed bent and inclination of heart
towards heavenly things. A man may have wit and memory to pray
when he hath not a conscience of praying. He may have an enlight
ened conscience when not a renewed heart, which may put us upon
asking what we ought rather than what we really desire ; as Augustine
speaketh of interlining his prayers with an A t noli modo ; timebam
enim ne me eocaudiret Deus — Not yet, Lord ; and I feared lest the Lord
should hear me. Or from a present affection stirring, when yet there
VOL. xviii. • E
66 SERMON UPON SAMUEL 2 VII. 27.
is not a rooted inclination: John vi. 34, ' Evermore give us of this bread/
compared with ver. 66, ' Many of his disciples went back, and walked
no more with him.' Many desire pardon, desire the Spirit ; but these
desires are controlled by other desires, soon put out of the humour, and
carried off by other things.
2. We are encouraged in prayer, and so we find it in our hearts to
pray, by several things —
[1.] God's merciful nature : 2 Sam. vii. 21, ' According to thine own
heart hast thou done all these great things.' Ex mero motu. God
fetcheth not his reasons from without, but from his own bowels. His
own self-inclination to do good doth sufficiently provoke him to it.
Now God is the same to others that he was to David. His readiness
to hear and to forgive doth encourage poor creatures to come to him.
The full breast desireth to be sucked, as much as the hungry child to
suck : Ps. Ixv. 2, ' 0 thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh
come.' God is ready to give audience, and doth wait for the coming
of the humble supplicant, that mercy may be obtained in his own way.
[2.] His great love, showed to the world in Christ : Eph. iii. 12, ' In
whom we have boldness, and access with confidence ; ' Heb. x. 19,
' Having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.' God
out of Christ is inaccessible, but in Christ propitious. Now in the
days of the gospel God doth not keep state as in the Jewish times :
Num. i. 53, ' The Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of
testimony, that there be no wrath against the congregation of the
children of Israel ; ' Num. iv. 15, ' The sons of Kohath shall not touch
any holy thing, lest they die ; ' and ver. 20, ' They shall not go in to
see when the holy things are covered, lest they die ; ' the way to the
sanctuary being not yet open. The people murmur at it : Num. xvii.
12, 13, ' The children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold we
die, we perish, we all perish : whosoever cometh anything near unto
the tabernacle of the Lord shall die : shall we be consumed with
dying ? ' It was a grievous thing to them. But now the throne of
grace is always open ; God keepeth not terms of special days of
audience ; God in Christ is near to us, and we are near unto God in
and by him, which much increaseth our love and confidence, and giveth
us more familiar thoughts of God, who seemed before to be at an inac
cessible distance. He hath taken the human nature unto himself.
This should wonderfully reconcile the heart to God, and make our
thoughts of him sweet and acceptable, when we come to pray to him.
Christ will not be strange to his own flesh, as we are bidden, ' Not to
hide ourselves from our own flesh,' Isa. Iviii. 7.
[3.] His bountiful providence. His former kindness to David is
mentioned all along the chapter, both by the Lord himself and also by
David. God, that hath been good, will be good ; for he wasteth not
by giving, but is where he was : James i. 5, ' If any lack wisdom, let
him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not,
and it shall be given him ; ' as the fountain remaineth as full as ever,
though it overflow and sendeth forth its streams. God delighteth that
former mercies should be improved to future trust : 2 Cor. i. 10, ' Who
delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver ; in whom we
trust that he will yet deliver us ; ' and to prayer : Phil. iv. 6, ' In
SEKMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27. 67
everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your re
quests be made known unto God.' Promises should not lie by us as a
dead stock : Ps. cxvi. 2, ' Because he hath inclined his ear to me,
therefore will I call upon him as long as I live/ Deus promittendo et
donando debet — God is a debtor both by his promises and by his
gifts. He loveth to crown his own mercies, and to follow gift with
gift ; for he is not weary of giving.
[4.] His promises. The promises to encourage prayer are very large.
(1.) There are indefinite promises of audience : Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon
me in the day of trouble ; I will deliver thee ; ' Job xxii. 27, ' Thou
shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt
pay thy vows.' So Isa. xlv. 19, ' I said not to the seed of Jacob, Seek
me in vain.' Now these are mighty encouragements, and show us that
it is not labour in vain to seek God ; so that if there be not a command
ment in our way to stop our requests, we have all the engagements in
the world to come and acquaint God with all our desires, griefs, fears,
wants, requests. We may find in our hearts to be dealing with him
upon these encouragements ; for what cannot God do ? and what will
not prayer do with a good God, who is readily inclined to his people,
and able to do what he pleaseth, and hath promised to do what we
desire ?
(2.) There are promises of general universal concernment, that God
will not only hear prayer, but do all that we desire of him. As John
xiv. 14, ' If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it ; ' and Mat.
xxi. 22, ' And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing,
ye shall receive;' Paxxxvii. 4,' Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall
give thee the desires of thy heart ; ' and many such expressions. Not
that men have a lawless liberty allowed them to ask what they will,
and God's power shall lackey after their vain fancies and appetites.
No ; these large and universal offers admit of a limitation propounded
in scripture, and that then when these universal particles are mentioned
these limitations are to be regarded, that you may not make promises
to yourselves, and set God a task by your self-conceitedness and vain
fancies, and think him engaged beyond what he is pleased to bind him
self unto. But what are the limitations ?
(1st.) That we ask righteously according to the matter. So you
have the limitation : 1 John v. 14, 15, ' And this is the confidence
that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he
heareth us : and if we know that he heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we
know that we have the petitions that we desired of him/ All the
business is, what is the meaning of these words, 'According to his
will' ? Ans. With conformity to his revealed will, and with submis
sion to his secret will. Surely with conformity to his revealed or com
manding will, that we ask nothing unjust, or sinful, and seek to bring
God to our lure, as Balaam, when he built altars, and sought to God
for leave to curse his people. And that we ask nothing but what is
agreeable to his secret will. Many things are lawful, yea, and com
manded, as for parents to ask the conversion of their children, and it
is our duty to use the means in order to it, but we must refer the success
to God; God must be judge what shall be most for his glory. In short,
we must ask according to his commanding will, with due respect to his
68 SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27.
decreeing will : John xiv. 13, ' Whatever ye ask the Father in rny
name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. What
ever belongeth to our duty and the glory of God we must do ; but for
the event, how -God will be glorified by either, we must submit it to
God. So for lawful things : grace puts a restraint upon the will of a
reneweM man, that he seeketh nothing but what may be for the glory
of God and his good. If he asketh other things and to other ends, he
is prompted thereunto by his flesh, which maketh him lust after vain,
empty, carnal satisfactions, to please his flesh.
(2d) The next limitation is to the manner. If we ask them fer
vently, and with that life and seriousness which finding a prayer in the
heart doth require. So Mat. vii. 7, ' Ask, and it shall be given you ;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you?' Prayers
are not answered if the spirit of prayer be wanting, or that liveliness
which is necessary to make it prayer, though the form and fashion of it
be kept up. Men may pray, but that life which their necessity calleth.
for may be far to seek. When we set our face to seek the Lord God
with prayer and supplication : Dan. ix. 3, ' I set my face unto the
Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication ; ' Jer. xxix. 13, 'Ye shall
seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.'
This sets the spirit of prayer a-work.
(3d) The next qualification is of the person, as in the text, ' Thy
servant ; ' so in other places : 1 John iii. 22, ' And whatsoever we ask,
we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those
things which are pleasing in his sight ; ' that is, we are as certain we
shall receive as if we had it already. If prayer should be performed
with the greatest earnestness, and the greatest faith and confidence, yet
if the consciences of men reprove them of any looseness and lightness
of spirit, or that they have served God by halves, and are off and on
with him in their practice, and look for good things from God, while
they neglect their own duty and what is required of them, they cannot
think that God should do it for them ; they cannot look that God
should be engaged any further than he hath engaged himself. So John
xv. 7, ' If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask
what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' If you be solicitous about
the word of Christ, and the matters of duty contained therein, you have
a great advantage at the throne of grace. So Ps. Ixvi. 18, ' If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me/ Many that pray are
as ice, a little thawed above, but hard at bottom ; they have not such
a strong settled resolution to walk more closely and orderly with God ;
but allow some secret lust, and so mar their own audience and accep
tance with God.
Secondly, For reasons.
1. With respect to God — (1.) His observance ; (2.) His acceptance.
[1.] With respect to God's observance. He is an all-seeing spirit,
and therefore will not be mocked with a vain appearance or a little
bodily exercise ; but the prayers we make to him we must find them
in oui- hearts : 1 Sam. xvi. 7, ' For God seeth not as man seeth ; for
man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart.'
We may act the parrot before men, but God looks to what there is in
the heart : 1 Chron. xxviii. 9, ' Know thou the God of thy father, and
SERMON UPON SAMUEL 2 VII. 27. 69
serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind ; for the Lord
searchelh all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the
thoughts.' A man up in the air seeth the spring as well as the river
and its course ; we that stand by see the course, but not the spring. God
understandeth whether we are inclined and encouraged, whether we are
habitually inclined to God : Jer. v. 3, ' 0 Lord, are not thine eyes on
the truth ? ' Bom. viii. 27, ' And he that searcheth the heart knoweth
what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the
saints according to the will of God.' He knows a belch of the flesh
from a groan of the spirit. He understandeth our desires as well as
our words ; so whether we are encouraged by the grace of the new
covenant and sense of our own qualification : 1 John iii. 20, 21, ' If our
heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards
God.'
[2.] With respect to God's acceptance. God granteth not our
prayers till our hearts be fixedly bent towards him : Ps. x. 17, ' Lord,
thou hast heard the desire of the humble ; thou wilt prepare their heart ;
thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.' When God hath put it into their
hearts to pray, and awakened their desires, then he will hear : Dan. x.
12, ' From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand,
and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard.' God
hath accepted the heart without the tongue, but never accepted the
tongue without the heart. Moses cried to God when he spake not one
word, Exod. viii. 12, and God heard him.
2. With respect to us.
[L] The part which the heart beareth in all human actions. It is
fans actionum ad extra, and it is terminus actionum ad intra. In our
actings towards God : Prov. iv. 23, ' Keep thy heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life ; ' and in our receipts from God this is
the thing that God aimeth at : Kom. vi. 17, ' Ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.' Prayer is not a
receiving duty, as hearing. In praying the heart begins ; in hearing it
ends the duty.
[2.] With respect to our carriage in prayer. We do not conceive a
prayer, but impose a prayer upon ourselves, if the tongue guide the
heart rather than the heart the tongue ; like children that cast stones
into the mine, but do not draw ore out of the mine : Acts ii. 26, ' There
fore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad.'
Use 1. Information.
1. What need is there of recollection before we come to pray, that
we may not force upon ourselves what chance offereth, but may have a
prayer in our hearts before we have it on our tongues : Ps. xlv. 1, ' My
heart is inditing a good matter ; I speak of the things which I have
made touching the king ; my tongue is as the pen of a ready writer.'
Usually we offer to God a dough-baked sacrifice. Only, that I may
not grate upon a tender conscience, there is a habitual preparation and
an actual preparation.
The habitual preparation lieth in a broken-hearted sense of our wants,
radiated inclination or bent of heart towards God and heavenly things,
d in a confidence and liberty towards God.
70 SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27.
The actual preparation lieth in such a sense of our necessities as the
present case doth deserve ; such a quickening of our desires after
heavenly things as may fill us with life ; such a remembrance of the
grace of God in Christ, and our own sincerity, that our hearts may not
reproach us when dealing with God as a father.
Again, I distinguish that our requests are ordinary or extraordinary.
Ordinary, when we ask daily supplies of grace, having no particular
strait, temptation, difficulty, or business of moment then in hand. Here
the habitual preparation, with little or no actual preparation, serveth in
our daily prayers for necessary blessings.
Extraordinary, as in some notable trial, difficult strait, conflict,
temptation, or when we seek some special benefit, and upon eminent
occasions ; then, as our necessities are greater, so our acts of prayer are
more earnest : Ps. cix. 4, ' For my love they are my adversaries, but I
give myself unto prayer.' Our Lord Jesus Christ, ' being in an agony,
prayed more earnestly/ etcreviarepov, Luke xxii. 44. And so it resolveth
this case, What if I have not such a feeling of strong and earnest desire,
or the overruling bent of the general inclination ? Yet keep not off
from prayer. (1.) Good desires are to be asked of God. (2.) Such
desires as you have must be expressed. (3.) Prayer is the usual way
to quicken and increase them. (4.) Turning away from God is the
means to kill them.
2. It informeth us what need we have of more help than our own, if
we must find every prayer in our hearts which we utter with our
tongues. Three things are necessary in prayer ; the human spirit
or natural faculty, that I may by my understanding work on my will ;
the new nature, faith, hope, and love, to believe in God, and set him
before me, to incline me to God as my chief good, and to hope for
benefit from him ; the divine Spirit to excite these graces : Jude 20,
' Praying in the Holy Ghost ; ' Rom. viii. 26, ' The Spirit itself also
helpeth our infirmities ; for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groan-
ings that cannot be uttered.' The Spirit works not on us as blocks,
but as rational creatures ; nor does it blow on a dead coal.
Use 2. Caution. Do not take everything for prayer which looks
like it
1. Bodily exercise. Many, by the agitation of the bodily spirits,
work themselves into some vehemency ; their voice is heard on high,
but the heart is dead and cold, quibus arteriis opus est. These fill up
only a little time with words ; they pray for fashion's sake, but sit
down with the work wrought ; they pray, but do not look after the
answer of prayers, as children shoot away their arrows, but mind not
where they fall. They find it in their tongues, but not in their hearts.
2. Carnal vehemency. Men may lust and long, but do not pray :
James iv. 2, ' Ye lust, and have not.' Motions of lust are violent and
rapid : Ps. Ixxviii. 18, ' They tempted God in their hearts by asking
meat for their lust.' These ask things unlawful, or lawful things to a
carnal purpose. Here is no gracious bent, for they do not prefer the
best things in their desires : Mat. vi. 33, ' Seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and the righteousness thereof.'
3. The fluency of gifts. These make prayer the work of invention
SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27. 71
and memory. The tongue exciteth the fancy, but the heart hangeth
off from God. They that are carnal may come behind in no gift, but
the affections do not keep pace with the expressions. These may
personate faith, hope, and love ; but they have not that real inclination,
that meekness and humility, which is necessary for the addresses of a
sinful creature to God.
4. Natural fervency.
[1.] They may be instant and earnest for temporal blessings. They
have no more to do with God, but only that he would deliver them
from their troubles : Jer. ii. 27, ' In the time of their trouble, they
will say, Arise and save us ; ' Exod. x. 17, ' Entreat the Lord your
God, that he may take away this death only.' It is the temporal
inconvenience they mind, more than the removal of sin ; and they
pray more to get ease of their trouble, than repent of their sins which
procured them.
[2.] If they pray for spiritual things, it is but a dictate of conscience,
not a desire of the renewed heart, and such as is seconded with con
stant endeavours to obtain what we ask of God, and submission to
the means and terms upon which the suit may be granted.
[3.] They soon grow weary, and give over, if they be not speedily
relieved : Isa. Iviii. 3, ' Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou
seest not,' &c. ; Mai. iii. 13, 'Your words have been stout against me,
saith the Lord ; yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against
thee ? ' 2 Kings vi. 33, ' He said, This evil is of the Lord ; what
should I wait for the Lord any longer ? '
[4.] And usually there is more of murmuring than of prayer in
their addresses to God. And that fervency which seemeth to be in
them floweth not from humility, love, and hope, but from pride,
bitterness, and diffidence ; their prayers are muddy, full of passions,
doubts, and fears.
Use 3. To exhort us to find in our hearts whatever prayer we make
to God.
1. In private prayer. Let us come as inclined by love, as encou
raged by faith and hope.
[1.] As inclined by love. So we ask of God all things in order to
God. We first pray to God for God, and next for the grace of the
Redeemer, and then for all other subordinate blessings : Ps. Ixxiii. 25,
' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth
that I desire besides thee.' Whatever quiets us in the neglect of God,
or want of God, is esteemed more than God.
[2.] As encouraged by faith and hope.
(1.) By faith ; believing the being and bountiful nature of God :
Heb. xi. 6, ' He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him/ And believing
his many promises, which are Yea and Amen in Christ : 2 Cor. i. 20,
'For all the promises of God are in him Yea, and in him Amen.'
Believing his gracious relation to those in covenant with him : John
xx. 17, ' I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God
and your God ; ' Mat. vi. 32, ' Your heavenly Father knoweth you
have need of these things ; ' Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock ; it
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.'
72 SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27.
(2.) By hope, which is a certain and desirous expectation of the
asked and promised blessing. None can come to God aright but
those that hope to be the better for coming. Christ has taught us
' how to pray, and not to faint/ Luke xviii. 1 ; Luke xi. 7-9, with
11-13. God's not answering us is no call to us to give over, but
to go on still. There is hope in waiting, however matters go. It is
best to resolve to lie at Christ's door, ra.ther than take our answer and
go away. Our perseverance should show how we are affected with
our wants, and how resolvedly we adhere unto and depend upon God ;
though he seem not to pity us, but to pursue us with his strokes.
2. In prayer with others. If either God direct their tongues to
speak to our case, or in general requests suited to the necessity of all
Christians, we must find it in our hearts, or else we are under a
distemper. Prayer is nothing else but the language of faith, love, and
hope ; of faith, a believing of God's being and bounty, that he is will
ing and able to succour us ; of love, which directeth us to the prime
fountain of all the good we have and would have, and to the end, the
glory of God, and regulateth all our choices by it, and to those means
which conduce to the enjoying of God; and of hope, which is a
desirous expectation of the promised blessing. If we have a holy
fervour, a confidence in the power and goodness of God, a sense of
need, and hope in his mercy, we cannot but find it in our hearts.
Prayer is the language of an upright heart feeling its own wants, and
craving a supply of God. Prayer is a work of the inner man, not
lifting up the voice, but the heart to God ; it is the yearning of the
Spirit : Rom. viii. 26, ' The Spirit itself maketh intercession in us,
erreiwy/Jot? aAaX^rot?, with groanings that cannot be uttered.' Hannah
' spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard,'
1 Sam. i. 13. The cry of the lips doth not pierce the clouds : Eccles.
v. 2, ' Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to
utter anything before God.' Have a care of raw, tumultuary,
undigested thoughts. A man should beforehand meditate on his
wants and the necessities of others, that he may be affected with
them. Certainly prayer must be gone about with reverence. Some
rush upon prayer profanely, others carelessly. (1.) Some profanely ;
they go from their pots to prayer. They let loose their hearts, eat and
drink without fear and sobriety, profane their mouths with light and
unfruitful speech, and yet presently call to prayer, as if every frame
of spirit were fit for this work. (2.) Others carelessly ; prayer is gone
about with little or no reverence at all ; some talking, some trifling,
some working, some toying till the very instant of prayer, yea, till he
that prayeth in the name of the rest be upon his knees, and hath
begun the prayer, which is offered up to God in all their names ; as if
they had their hearts at command in a moment. Oh ! how can they
come before God with that confidence, reverence, humility, and fervency
that is required in holy prayer, when they come reeking hot from
their worldly occasions ? Then for the matter of these prayers. There
are certain common blessings which we and others continually stand
in need of, and for which we are continually to pray ; as the increase
of faith, patience, meekness, love, and the like. Do you desire these
things ? God will not reject the desires of an humble, contrite heart
SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27. 73
Many things we desire, and lawfully may desire, which are not
matters of that moment that we should acquaint God with them, or
seek to interest providence in them. We do not expect, nor is it need-
ful to require, any special work of his for the performance of them ; it
is not seemly so to do ; as in a lawful game, a man may desire to win
rather than to lose, but it is not fit he should make a prayer for it.
Object. But if another pray, and I join with him, how do I find it in
my heart ?
Ans. This is principally meant of personal secret prayer, when we
uncover our own sore, confess the 'plague of our own heart/ 1 Kings
viii. 38. Then the rule is, we must fit and proportion our words to
.our matter, and both matter and words to our minds and hearts.
SERMON UPON PSALM L 5.
Gather my saints together, those that have made a covenant with
me by sacrifice. — Ps. 1. 5.
THIS whole psalm setteth forth the erection of the gospel church,
and the ordinances thereof. Though the gospel kingdom came not
with observation, that is, with external pomp and glory, yet much of
the majesty of the divine presence was discernible in it.
Clearly in the frame of the psalm you may observe a rejection of
the legal worship, and an establishment of the Christian service, and
the spiritual oblations which belong thereunto. Yet the expressions
do rather represent Christ as coming in the majesty of a judge than
a lawgiver ; for three reasons, I suppose —
1. Because there was judgment exercised on the Jews for refusing
to submit to Christ and enter into the gospel state.
2. Because in the prophetical writings the two comings of Christ
are frequently mixed, his first coming in humility with his last com
ing in glory to judge the world.
3. Because those laws and ordinances which were given by Christ
at the erection of the gospel kingdom will be the matter about which
we shall be judged at the last and universal day of doom. For these,
and other reasons, is Christ represented as a judge, summoning the
world into his presence, that the actions of men, good or bad, may be
examined ; that it may be known who have resisted and despised the
Messias, and who have subjected themselves to him ; that the former
may be punished, and the other rewarded. We shall all one day be
brought into the judgment about the covenant we have made with God
by sacrifice. So much is intimated in the context.
In the words observe — (1.) God's charge to his officers to summon the
court, ' Gather my saints together.' (2.) The description of the parties
who are to appear in the judgment, ' My saints that have made a cove
nant with me by sacrifice.'
1. His charge to his officers, whether angels or others. None can
hide themselves, but they must all appear before the tribunal of Christ;
for God will have them all brought together from the four winds or
corners of the earth.
2. The description, ' That have made a covenant.' The word sig-
nifieth, cut a covenant. In covenants the sacrifices were cut asunder,
and the persons contracting went between the divided parts. As God
SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5. 75
bid Abraham take an heifer, and a ram, and a she-goat, Gen. xv. 10,
'And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and
laid each piece one against another ; ' and at evening, ver. 17, ' a smok
ing furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces.' And
Jer. xxxiv. 18, ' They have not performed the words of the covenant
which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and
passed between the parts thereof.' The meaning of this rite was an
imprecation : So let them be cut asunder that shall break this covenant.
The heathens : Sic a Jove feriatur is, qui sanctum hoc fregerit fcedus,
ut ego hunc porcum ferio — Let Jupiter strike him dead that breaks
this holy covenant, as I strike this swine. Thus are we said to cut a
covenant with God.
Now this covenant is said to be made by sacrifice ; for (1.) There
is no covenanting between God and sinful man without a sacrifice ;
and (2.) No sacrifice will serve the turn to make the covenant
effectual, but only the blood of Christ, by which his justice is satisfied,
and wrath appeased.
Doct. That God's people or saints are such as have made a cove
nant with him by sacrifice ; for so they are described here.
Two things I must speak to — (1.) About making a covenant with
God ; (2.) Why no covenant can be made with God without the inter
posing of or respect unto a sacrifice.
First, About making a covenant with God. Sometimes a covenant is
said to be made by God, and sometimes made by us. It is made by
God as he hath appointed it, and stated the terms of it, and unalter
ably fixed them. Though there be a condescension in the covenant
form, and therein God carrieth himself as a God of grace ; yet in fix
ing the term so unalterably, God carrieth himself as a sovereign : Ps.
cxi. 9, ' He hath commanded his covenant for ever/ We must take
the covenant as God hath left it, not bring it down to our fancies and
humours. Our making covenant respects our stipulation, or binding
ourselves to perform the conditions required on our part, when we
heartily accept the covenant as stated by God.
In every covenant there is ratio dati et accepti, something given,
and something taken. God will be our God, and we must be his people :
Heb. viii. 10, ' This is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts ; and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people.'
Now God makes this covenant — (1.) With respect to himself ; (2.)
With respect to us ; (3.) With respect both to himself and us.
1. With respect to himself, to show the freeness and sureness of his
grace.
[1.] The freeness of his grace. He might have required obedience
from us out of his sovereignty, as he is our creator and we are his
creatures ; and given no other reason of his commands but this, I am
the Lord ; without any promises or contract made with us. But the
absolute command of God, though it might exact obedience from us,
yet it doth not carry such motives in its bosom to encourage us to per
form it as the covenant. There was so much of grace in the first
covenant: though the condition of it was perfect obedience, and the
76 SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5.
reward had a respect to our personal righteousness, yet God would
covenant withal, and enter into bonds and terms of agreement with
man, who was not his equal, but the work of. his hands ; and give his
word to him to make him sure of eternal life, in case of perfect
obedience. But the last covenant hath the honour, by way of eminency,
to be styled a covenant of grace ; as being made with us after a breach,
with man fallen ; so it is called a ' covenant of peace/ Isa. liv. 10, ' My
covenant of peace shall not be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy
on thee ; ' and because therein God hath manifested the glory of his
redeeming grace and pardoning mercy : Eph. i. 6, ' To the praise of the
glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved ; '
and because the terms are so gracious, that God will accept of our im
perfect obedience, if it be sincere ; it is called a 'covenant of grace.' In
short, when God was displeased with man for the breach of the first
covenant, yet he would enter into a new covenant, to show the riches
of his grace and mercy ; and he giveth notice to fallen man, and send-
eth him word, that if he will put himself under this law of grace, he
shall be loosed from the curse : Luke i. 77-79, ' To give knowledge
of salvation unto his people, by the remission of their sins, through the
tender mercy of our God ; whereby the day-spring from on» high hath
visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.' And if we once enter
into it, from first to last he dealeth with us upon gracious terms.
[2.] The sureness of his mercy. We are now at a certainty, and may
know what to expect from God ; for he is pleased to enter into bonds,
and to make himself a debtor by his own promises. Mercy and truth
are the Jachin and Boaz : Micah vii. 20, ' Thou wilt perform the truth
to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old.' It was mercy to Abraham, with whom
the covenant was made ; truth to Jacob, to whom it was made good.
So Ps. xxv. 10, ' All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such
as keep his covenant and his testimonies.' We may enter our plea and
claim , and therefore we are said ' to take hold of his covenant,' Isa,
Ivi. 4 ; Heb. vi. 18, ' That by two immutable things, in which it was
impossible for God to lie, we may have strong consolation, who have
fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.' Here is our sure
stay and encouragement, and we may challenge the privilege as ours
by God's donation.
2. With respect to us.
[1.] To leave the greater bond and obligation upon us ; for there is,
besides his right, our own consent. Therefore he would deal with us
in the way of a covenant rather than in the way of absolute sove
reignty. God seeth how slippery and unstable our hearts are, that we
love to wander ; and therefore he will bind us to our duty by a solemn
covenant, which every one of us is personally to make for himself to
God : Ezek. xx. 37, ' I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will
bring you into the bond of the covenant.' We pass under God's rod,
as sheep were told going out of the fold. And we enter into the bond
of the covenant, that we may be bound to God the faster. God taketh
us to be firmly obliged to him, and it is dangerous to break with him
after such consent.
SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5. 77
[2.] To make us more willing ; therefore we enter upon his service
by choice. We are not at liberty to engage or not engage ; but God
chooseth to rule us by consent rather than by force, with a sceptre of
mercy rather than a rod of iron : Isa. Ivi. 4, ' Thus saith the Lord to
the eunuchs, that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please
me, and take hold of my covenant.' And God taketh this way as
suiting best, partly with the nature of a reasonable creature, who is
to be led rather than driven ; to be drawn by his own consent : Hosea
xi. 4, 'I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.' And
partly as suiting with the tenor of his gospel dispensation. Gospel
grace useth no force : it is not extorted, but willing obedience which
God now looketh for : Ps. ex: 3, ' Thy people shall be willing in the
day of thy power.'
[3.] To put an honour upon his creatures. Surely it is an honour to
be God's confederates, an honour vouchsafed to his people above all
others : Deut. xxvi. 18, 19, ' The Lord hath avouched thee this day
to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou
shouldst keep all his commandments ; and to make thee high above
all the nations that he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in
honour ; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy
God, as he hath spoken.' Surely it is the glory of any people to be in,
covenant with God. The meanest relation to him is above all the
privileges in the world. God's honourable relation attends this cove
nant interest. They are his children : John i. 12, ' As many as received
him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God ;' 1 John iii. 1,
' Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God.' They are his friends : James ii.
23, 'Abraham was called the friend of God;' John xv. 14, 'Ye are
my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.' It is a covenant of
amity ; they are his friends, his dear children. Surely this is a great
favour.
3. With respect to both parties. That both parties might be en
gaged to each other by mutual consent. Without it God is not bound
to us, nor can we be knit and tied to the Lord. We are said to be
joined to the Lord by this covenant: Jer. 1. 5, 'Come and let us join
ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, that shall not be for
gotten ; ' and to cleave to him as a girdle cleaveth about the loins of a
man : Jer. xiii. 11, ' For as a girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man,
so have I caused the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of
Judah, to cleave to me, saith the Lord ; that they might be to me for
a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory.' God is
not bound to us, as he is not to any creature, no, not to the angels in
heaven ; yea, he is altogether free before the contract ; but is pleased,
for our good and benefit, to enter into bonds, and is pleased to bind
himself to bless us. And it was not fit we should be possessed of such
benefits without being bound to God, and coming into some nearness
to him. For in the covenant God doth manifest himself in the most
familiar way to his people, and therefore will have this mutual bond
to precede, that he and his creatures might come near to each other
with the greatest familiarity, and bind themselves to each other by
reciprocal engagements and consents.
78 SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5.
Secondly, That no covenant can be made with God without the
interposing of and respect unto a sacrifice.
1. In the old church, when Israel entered into covenant with God,
there were solemn sacrifices. The manner you have described Exod.
xxiv. 10, and explained by the apostle Heb. ix. 19, 20, ' When Moses
had spoken every precept unto all the people according to the law, he
took the blood of calves and of goats, with water and scarlet wool and
hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is
the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.' In
this action you may observe that, after the writing of the law, Moses
'built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the
twelve tribes of Israel,' Exod. xxiv. 4. The altar represented God,
the first and chief party in the covenant, and the twelve pillars of stone
represented the other confederate party, the people of Israel, who were
to come before the Lord as his obedient people. Now both the parties
were not only there by dead representation, or in image and figure, but
there were also lively types of the glory and presence of the God of
Israel ; for it is said, ver. 10, ' They saw the God of Israel, and there
was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as
it were the body of heaven for clearness.' God was there in great
majesty to solemnise the covenant. You know heaven is his throne,
and the church his footstool ; therefore, when the church was desolate,
it is said, Lam. ii, 1, ' God remembered not his footstool in the day of
his anger.' On Israel's part there were present Moses and Aaron, and
Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel ; and they were
to worship afar off, ver. 1, to express their reverence to this great
God who was to enter into covenant with them. Moses alone was
to come up to Jehovah, but the elders went up but half way. Moses
went up unto the top of the mount in a dark cloud as the mediator,
and the people abode beneath at the foot of the mount, and the elders
went up but half way. Well, then, the covenant is propounded to the
people : Moses ' came and told the people all the words of the Lord,
and all the judgments ; ' and they make answer, ' All the words which
the Lord hath said will we do,' ver. 3. But before the full confirmation
of his covenant you read that Moses ' sent the young men of the
children of Israel, who offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-
offerings of oxen unto the Lord,' ver. 5. The young men, that is, the
first-born, who had the right of priesthood, before the Levites were
chosen, and taken instead of the first-born of Israel, Num. iii. 41.
And by their burnt-offerings and peace-offerings it was declared that
we cannot enter into covenant with God without sacrifices. These
sacrifices did figure the death of Christ, and the benefits thence
accruing to us. There were burnt-offerings to show the means of their
propitiation with God, and peace-offerings to show their thankfulness
for the peace and salvation which by it they obtained. The next thing
in this action was that Moses ' took half the blood, and put it in basons,
and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar,' ver. 6. And then he
* took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people,
and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient,'
ver. 7. Then he took the rest of the blood, and ' sprinkled it on the
people.' He sprinkled it on the altar to show that God topk upon him
SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5. 79
an obligation to bless. And the reading of the book of the covenant in
the audience of the people showeth that those that will enter into cove
nant with God should understand their duty, and be ready to fulfil it.
Then he ' took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Be
hold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you con
cerning all these words,' ver. 8. The blood sprinkled on the people may
be meant of the twelve pillars set up to represent the people ; they take
an obligation to obey ; one party is not bound and the other free, but
both bound to each other.
Thus the first covenant was not dedicated without the blood of a
sacrifice. Well, then, God is the principal party covenanting, and
binding himself to the people by his promises ; and the people binding
themselves to his precepts, that they might avoid the penalty threat
ened, and obtain the blessings promised ; and this covenant was con
firmed by blood, and this blood sprinkled, and so made inviolable.
There is but one circumstance more, and that is, ver. 11, ' And upon
the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand ; also they
saw God, and did eat and drink ; ' that is, these select and chosen
men, the elders spoken of before, were not hurt and affrighted by God,
and did feast in his presence, in token of their reconciliation with him,
and joy in his grace. This was the way of entrance by the Jewish
church, all which are mysterious and typical. God, that otherwise
driveth a sinner from him, is made propitious to us, that we need not
be affrighted at his presence ; yea, may hope for all good things from
him ; yea, we may feast cheerfully in his presence.
2. The Christian church doth also make a covenant with him by
sacrifice. This will appear in three things — (1.) That Christ's death
hath the true notion and virtue of a sacrifice ; (2.) That this sacri
fice hath respect to the covenant of grace; (3.) That our manner
of entering into covenant with God is by the same moral acts by
which they were to be conversant about a sacrifice.
[1.] That Christ's death hath the true notion and full virtue of a
sacrifice.
(1.) The true notion : Eph. v. 2, 'He hath loved us, and hath given
himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling
savour.' His death is a mediatory sacrifice, a propitiatory sacrifice,
for the expiation of the sins of his people. In all the sacrifices of the
law there was shedding of blood, without which was no remission of
sins. All were killed, flayed ; some were burnt, some roasted, some
fried on coals, some seethed in pots ; all which were but shadows of the
painful sufferings of our Lord Christ, which he endured for our sins.
Christ is the only true and real sacrifice wherein provoked justice doth
rest satisfied. Christ in this sacrifice was the priest, who, as God, did
offer up himself: Heb. ix. 14, ' Who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God.' As man, he was the sacrifice : Heb. x.
10, ' By the which will we are sanctified, though the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all.' We may add also, that he was the altar
whereupon this sacrifice was offered ; for as ' the altar doth sanctify
the gift,' Mat. xxiii. 11, so doth his godhead add an infinite value to
his sufferings : Acts xx. 28, ' Feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood.'
80 SER310N UPON PSALM L. 5.
(2.) It hath the full virtue of a sacrifice. For sacrifices had a
threefold respect — to God, to sin, and to man. God is pacified, sin
expiated, and man delivered and freed. All these concur in Christ.
(1st.) As to God, who in the mystery of redemption is considered
as the supreme and universal judge, he is pacified and satisfied by the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the party offended. So he pitied
man, found out a ransom and sacrifice for our atonement. As the
supreme lawgiver and judge of mankind, so he is to receive the ransom,
sacrifice, and satisfaction, or else to punish us as we have deserved ;
for before this supreme judge man standeth guilty and liable to death.
But Christ ' made his soul an offering for sin,' Isa. liii. 10. He under
took the penalty due to us for sin ; and therefore he is said to give
himself for us as a propitiation: 1 John ii. 2, 'And he is the pro
pitiation for our sins.' And God intended him as such : Horn. iii. 25,
' Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood ; ' 1 John iv. 10, ' Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' Now
propitiation implieth his being pacified and appeased, so as to become
propitious and merciful for ever to sinful man, submitting to the terms
of his covenant.
(2d) As to sin ; so he is said to expiate, abolish, and purge it : Heb. i.
3, ' When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high.' As God would not be appeased without
a sacrifice or satisfaction, so sin could not be purged without bearing
the punishment. When the sacrifice was offered and made on behalf
of sinful man, then was sin purged, or expiated, or made removable,
upon certain terms determined by God, our supreme judge and law
giver. The blood of Christ hath done that which will remove the
guilt and pollution of it when rightly applied.
(3d) As to the sinner, he is delivered and freed from sin ; that is, the
sinning party, making use of God's remedy, is reconciled to God : Col.
i. 21, 22, ' And you who were sometimes alienated, and enemies in
your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, in the body
of his flesh through death.' The sin is not reconciled to God, but the
sinner is ; and being reconciled, is pardoned : Eph. i. 7, ' In whom we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.' And also
sanctified : Heb. xiii. 12, ' Wherefore Jesus, that he might sanctify
the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate; ' that is, there
is enough done to sanctify the party, and consecrate him to God. Yea,
perfected : Heb. x. 14, ' By one offering he hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified.' There needeth no other sacrifice, no other
satisfaction ; for by this sacrifice he hath obtained all things necessary
to salvation. There needeth no more to satisfy justice, or to procure
salvation for his people, in the way of a sacrifice.
[2.] That the new covenant is made and confirmed by virtue of
this sacrifice, and without it there is no admission to the grace of it.
(1.) By it Christ is authorized to offer the terms and dispense the
benefits of it : Heb. xiii. 20, ' The God of peace, that brought again
from the dead the Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant.' That ' blood of the everlasting
covenant ' hath a double reference there — to the God of peace, which is
SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5. 81
the title of God : God's wrath was appeased and his justice satisfied
by the full recompense which was made for our offences through the
blood of the covenant ; so he is the God of peace ; and also to- his
bringing back Christ again from the dead, as having done his work,
and satisfied to the uttermost farthing ; and so God investeth him with
his office, as being the great shepherd of the sheep ; that is, a power of
saving that which was lost, or recovering the poor stray sheep out of
the power of the wolf, that they may be brought again into the pas
ture, and enjoy the privileges of God's flock.
(2.) By this sacrifice the benefits of the new covenant are sealed,
ratified, and conveyed to us. As is evident from the words of our
Saviour in the institution of the Lord's supper : ' This cup is the new
testament in my blood, which is shed for you,' Luke xxii. 20 ; or,
' This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many, for
the remission of sins,' Mat. xxvi. 28. Wherefore we have the new
covenant, the blood confirming this new covenant, which is the blood,
of Christ, shed for the remission of sins, as the principal blessing of
the new covenant ; which promise had been in vain if Christ's blood
had not been shed to satisfy divine justice ; so that this is the firm and
immutable basis upon which this covenant is fixed, otherwise a cove
nant between God and sinful man had not been stable. So in other
places : Zech. ix. 11, 'By the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth
thy prisoners out of the pit, in which is no water.' All our deliver
ance cometh by the covenant, and by the blood of, the covenant ; not
only as a promised, but as a purchased blessing. It is by the blood of
the covenant that we are pardoned, by the blood; of' the covenant that
we are sanctified, by the blood of the covenant that we are perfected
for ever.
[3.] That our manner of entering or renewing covenant with God
is by the same moral acts by which they were conversant about the
sacrifices. To understand this, let us see what the sacrifices did
import.
(1.) They were glasses to represent their misery, and the debt conr
tracted by sin. And therefore the apostle calleth them ' the hand
writing of ordinances that was against us, and was contrary to us, Col.
ii. 14 : for by the killing of the beast it was testified that they deserved
to die themselves. Their sacrifices were a public testification of their
guilt, an acknowledgment of the debt rather than an acquittance ; so
Heb. x. 3, ' In those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of
sins every year.' And that is the reason why it is said, Ps. li. 17, ' The
sacrifices of God are a brokenJieart.' Every one that offered sacrifice was
in a broken-hearted manner to profess and acknowledge that he was
worthy to die for his sins. And doth not the same obligation lie upon
us, if we would make a covenant with God, by virtue of the great sacri
fice of atonement offered to God for the whole congregation of God's
people ? Surely the curse of the law bindeth us over to eternal wrath.
And this must be assented unto, and subscribed by every man's con
science, with much brokenness of heart. Cold thoughts of sin beget
but cold thoughts of Christ ; for every man's value and esteem of the
remedy is according to his sense of the misery. If we are not deeply
affected with our lost condition, Christ is of little use to us. It is the
VOL. XVIII. F
82 SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5.
contrite and broken heart which doth most relish the grace of the
Redeemer. . ,
(2.) Sacrifices were figures of the mercy of God and the merit of
Christ, viz., of his death and obedience : Heb. ix. 13 14, If the blood
of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the hying God ?
So Heb x 5-7 ' Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared
me • in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.' So that the sacrifices
were to represent Christ to them, without which they did little else than
qualify for legal privileges. Therefore it behoved every one that would
make covenant with God to own the promised Messiah, the surety who
died for sin, and the great sacrifice of atonement, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And is not this incumbent upon us, who would make and renew cove
nant with God ? What is required of us in the eucharist but to bless
God for all his mercies, especially the gift of his Son to die for us ?
That which was promised and prefigured is now accomplished. Surely
the death of Jesus Christ is the only true means of redemption and
propitiation for sin, which must be acknowledged with all joy and
thankfulness.
(3.) They were obligations to duty, and that worship and obedience
which we owe to God ; for a man by offering a beast did in effect
devote himself and all his power and strength to God ; the worshipper
was to consecrate himself wholly to his service. So Bom. xii. 1, ' I be
seech you by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
This was the interpretation of the rites of the law, and the reasonable
part of that worship. And are not we to give up ourselves to God,
with a sincere firm resolution of new obedience ? Thus for our humi
liation the sacrifices revealed our misery ; for our consolation they pro
pounded the remedy of grace ; and in order to our sanctification they
taught us gratitude and new obedience. But their chief and first re
lation was to Christ, without whom our misery had been in vain dis
covered, and holiness of life to little purpose required, for we have all
from him.
Use. To press you to enter into covenant with God^ especially being
encouraged thereunto by the atonement and reconciliation made by
Christ. You have no benefit by it till you personally enter into the
bond of it. It is true, God being pacified by Christ, offereth pardon
and acceptance on the conditions of the gospel, but we do not actually
partake of the benefit till we perform those conditions. Though the
price be paid by Christ, accepted by the Father, yet we have not an
actual interest, through our own default, for not accepting God's cove
nant. The covenant of nature lieth upon us whether we consent or
no, because that is a law, but this is a privilege ; and therefore we must
man by man make out our title and claim. What shall we do ?
1. Bless God for this grace, that when man had irreparably broken
the first covenant, and fallen from his state of life, and all the world
SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5. 83
left under guilt and a curse : Eom. iii. 19, ' All the world is become
guilty before God ; ' that God took occasion by this misery to open a
door of hope to us by Christ : 2 Cor. v. 19, ' God was in Christ, recon
ciling the world unto himself;' and hath set up a new court of
righteousness and life, where sinners may appear, where grace taketh
the throne, and the judge is Christ, and the rule of proceeding is the
gospel, and.upon faith and sincere obedience we may be accepted. Oh !
let us run for refuge to this court, take sanctuary at this grace : Heb.
vi.^18, ' Who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before
us.' The Lord standetfc with arms open to receive us, if we will
but acknowledge our iniquities : Jer. iii. 13, * Only acknowledge thine
iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God ; ' 1
John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness ; ' judge and condemn
ourselves for them : 1 Cor. xi. 31, ' If we would judge ourselves, we
should not be judged.' With penitent and contrite hearts ; the self-
condemning sinner is acquitted : Luke xviii. 13, 14, ' The publican,
standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but
smote on his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell
you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other :
for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted.'
2. Own Christ as the Son of God, and the Redeemer of the world, and
the fountain of your life and peace ; for till we own the mediator of the
covenant, we have not the benefit of the covenant. Though his blood
be shed, it is not sprinkled on us : Heb. xii. 24, ' And to Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that
speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.' Nor can it be pleaded
by us with any comfort and satisfaction. Therefore you must own
him: John xx. 28, 'My Lord and my God.' At least prize and
esteem him : Phil. iii. 8, ' I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.' And use him to the ends
for which God hath appointed him : John i. 16, ' Of his fulness have
all we received, and grace for grace;' and 1 Cor. i. 30, 'But of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.' Let him be to you
what God hath appointed him to be, and do for you what God hath
appointed him to do for poor sinners : Micah v. 5, ' This man shall be
the peace ; ' that is, in him alone will we seek it ; this is the blood of
the covenant.
_ 3. Devote yourselves to God, to serve him and please him : Isa. xliv.
5, ' One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the
name of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the
Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel ; ' and Ezek. xvi. 8,
I entered into a covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine.' Now
this must be done sincerely ; not only with a moral sincerity not to
isemble, but with a supernatural sincerity : Deut. v. 29, ' Oh ! that
there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep
1 my commandments always.' It is done to God, who will not be
mocked. And every consecration implieth an execration. But for the
present, see no lust be reserved. If you live, or resolve to live, in any
84 SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5.
known sin, or do not resolve against it, God will say, ' What hast thou
to do to take my covenant in thy mouth,' Ps. 1. 16. If there be any
insincerity, the covenant is marred in the making: Ps. Ixxviii. 37,
' Their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his
covenant.' If there be any partial reserve, the heart is not right. All
former vanities must actually be renounced.
4. Having made covenant with him, you must be exact in keeping
it : Ps. xxv. 10, ' All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such
as keep his covenant and his testimonies.' Therefore be ever mindful
of it : 1 Chron. xvi. 15, ' Be ye mindful always of his covenant ; ' Deut.
iv. 23, ' Take heed to yourselves lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord
your God/ Do not deal falsely in it, upon any temptation whatsoever :
Ps. xliv. 17, ' All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee,
neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.'
5. Take heed of an unmortified heart. For an unmortified professor
will never be faithful with God : ' Every sacrifice shall be salted with
salt,' Mark ix. 49. Kemember God's judgments upon those that have
broken his covenant : Lev. xxvi. 25, ' I will bring a sword upon you,
that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant ; ' Isa. xiv. 5, ' The eartli
also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have trans
gressed the laws, they have broken the everlasting covenant.' Entering
into covenant is called entering into a curse : Neh. x. 29, ' They clave
to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an
oath to walk in God's law, and to observe and do all the commandments
of the Lord our God, and his judgments, and his statutes.'
SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3.
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the
womb is his reward. — Ps. cxxvii. 3.
THIS psalm beareth title, ' A song of degrees for Solomon.' In the
margin it is ' of Solomon,' or concerning Solomon, that is, spoken in
the spirit of prophecy concerning him. Indeed, the passages are in
their intrinsic meaning applicable to him. He was a builder of the
temple, and an enlarger of the state and dominion of the Jews. There
is a plain allusion to his name, Jedidiah, and Solomon, in the latter
end of the second verse : ' For so he giveth his beloved sleep.' For
Jedidiah, see 2 Sam. xii. 24, 25, ' She bare a son, and he called his
name Solomon ; and the Lord loved him : and he sent by the hand of
Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the
Lord,' i.e., beloved of the Lord. And for his other name, Solomon, see
1 Chron. xxii. 9, 10, ' Behold a son shall be born to thee, and he shall
be a man of rest ; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round
about ; for his name shall be Solomon' (i.e., peaceable), 'and I will give
peace and quietness in his days. He shall build an house for my name,
and I will be his father, and he shall be my son ; and I will establish
the throne of his kingdom for ever.' Well, now, it is in vain for you,
Absalom and Adonijah, to set your wits on the rack, to torture your
selves with your own ambition. God will give Jedidiah the kingdom,
and he shall be Solomon, have rest and peace. We read in the history,
2 Sam. xv. 2, ' Absalom rose early in the morning, and stood in the
gate, to salute every one that passed by.' Adonijah made a great
bustle. But God's will concerning Jedidiah shall stand. He was to
be the builder, he was to be the son by whom the succession of the
regal line was to be continued. Upon this David comforteth himself,
and acknowledgeth God's mercy : ' Lo, children are an heritage of the
Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward.'
In the words, children are represented as a blessing. In which are
two things — (1.) The author from whom children come, ' From the
Lord ; ' (2.) The quality in which we receive this blessing, set forth by
a double notion — (1st.) As an 'heritage;' (2d.) As a 'reward.'
The word ' heritage1 is often, by an Hebraism, put for a man's por
tion, be it good or bad. It is used in a bad sense, as Job xx. 29, ' This
is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed
86 SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3.
unto him by God.' In the good sense, Isa. liv. 17, ' This is the heri
tage of the servants of the Lord.'
' Keward' is put for any gift that cometh by promise, or with respect
unto obedience ; because in a promise there is a contract implied ; if
we will do so and so, God will do so and so for us.
Doct. It is a blessing that we have from God, and so it should be
accounted, that we have children born of our loins.
It is not only a bare gift, so it is to the wicked ; but a blessing, one
of the temporal mercies of the covenant : Ps. cxxviii. 1, ' Blessed is
every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways.' One of the
blessings is, ver. 3, ' Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of
thy house, thy children like olive plants round about thy table.' This
is a part of our portion and heritage ; the saints have so acknowledged
it : Gen. xxxiii. 5, ' Who are these with thee ? And he said, The
children which the Lord hath graciously given thy servant.' Jacob
speaketh like a father, and like a godly father. Not only given, but
graciously given. As a father he acknowledged it a gift ; as a godly
father, coming from mere grace.
This may be gathered from the story of Job. Compare chap. i. ver.
2, 3, with 18, 19. Observe, when his blessings are reckoned up, first
his numerous issue is mentioned before his great estate. The chief
part of a man's wealth and prosperity are his children ; the choicest of
outward blessings. Children are first mentioned. But observe again,
in the 18th and 19th verses, the loss of children is mentioned as the
greatest affliction ; to put the top-stone upon his trial, the last afflic
tion is the saddest, and so giveth the dead stroke.
1. There is much of God's providence exercised in and about children.
[1.] In giving strength to conceive. It is not every one's mercy.
Sarah obtained it by faith : Heb xi. 11, ' Through faith Sarah received
strength to conceive seed.' Though bringing forth children be accord
ing to the course of nature, yet God hath a great hand in it. Many
godly parents have been denied the benefit of children, and need other
promises to make up that want : Isa. Ivi. 4, 5, ' Thus saith the Lord
unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that
please me, and take hold of my covenant. Even unto them will I give
in mine house, and within my walls, a place and a name better than
of sons and of daughters, I will give them an everlasting name, that
shall not be cut off.'
[2.] In framing the child in the womb. It is not the parents, but
God. The parents cannot tell whether it be male or female, beautiful
or deformed; they know not the number of the veins and arteries,
bones and muscles. See Ps. cxxxix. 13-16, * For thou hast possessed
my reins ; thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise
thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made ; marvellous are thy
works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not
hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in
the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet
being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written, which
in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.'
There is a great deal of workmanship in the body of man ; it is a curious
piece of embroidery. Angels sang at man's creation : Job xxxviii. 7,
SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. a 87
' When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted
for joy ; ' and they admire at his resurrection. What is God about
to do ?
[3.] In giving strength to bring forth. The heathens had a goddess
•which presided over this work. His providence reacheth to the beasts.
It is by the Lord that hinds do calve : Ps. xxix. 9, l The voice of the
Lord maketh the hinds to calve ; ' and there is a promise to them
that fear him, 1 Tim. ii. 15, ' She shall be saved in child-bearing, if
they continue in faith and charity, and holiness with sobriety.' It
must be understood, as all temporal promises are, with the exception of
his will ; but thus much we gather, that it is a blessing which falleth
under the care of his providence ; and that by promise, so far as God
seeth fit to make it good. Rachel died in this case; every godly
woman hath not this deliverance. So did Phinehas' wife, 1 Sam. iv.
20. God might have taken this advantage against you,, to have cut
you off. If deliverance were not so ordinary, it would1 be accounted
miraculous. The sorrows and pains of travail are a monument of God's
displeasure : Gen. iii. 16, ' Unto the woman he said, I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy conception ; in sorrow shalt thou bring
forth children/ Women's pains are more grievous than the females of
any kind, to preserve a weak vessel in great danger ; and for the child,
a sentence of death waylaid it as it was coming into the world.
[4.] The circumstances of deliverance. In every birth there are
some new circumstances to awaken our stupid thoughts to consider the
work of God ; for God doth all his works with some variety, lest we
should be cloyed with the commonness of them.
2. They are a great blessing in themselves ; and the more of them
the greater blessing ; and therefore should they be acknowledged and
improved as blessings. Certainly there is a more special favour showed
us in our relations than in our possessions : Prov. xix. 14, ' House and
riches are the inheritance of fathers, but a good wife is from the Lord.'
So for children. By them the parent is continued and multiplied :
they are a part of himself, and in them he liveth when he is dead and
gone. It is a shadow of eternity, nodosa eternitas ; therefore the out
ward appurtenances of life are not so valuable as children. Besides,
they are capable of the image of God. By them the world is replen
ished, the church multiplied, a people continued, to know, love, and
serve God, when we are dead and gone. We read of Christ's ' rejoic
ing in the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were with the
sons of men,' Prov. viii. 31. In the habitable parts of the world there
are great whales; but men were Christ's delight. Especially to God's
confederates, or parents in covenant with God, are children a greater
mercy. David was such an one ; there are ' sons and daughters born
to him,' Ezek. xvi. 20. These are visibly the children of God, and in a
most proper sense an heritage from the Lord. It is said, Gen. vi. 12,
' The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and
they took them wives of all which they choose." Seth begat sons and
daughters to God. See Gen. x. 21, ' Unto Shem also, the father of
the children of Eber, the brother of Japhet the elder, even to him
were born children.' The Persians, Lydians, Assyrians, Syrians, those
who were possessed of the empire of the world, and all the rich spices
88 SEUMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3.
and treasures of the east, he hath not his denomination from them, but
from the children of Eber ; a people a long time kept under, before
they could grow into a nation, but they were the people of God, who
retained his true worship ; theirs were the promises, the adoption, and
the glory. See that place, 1 Cor. vii. 14, ' For the unbelieving husband
is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the
husband ; else were your children unholy ; but now are they holy.'
Reasons are a notioribus, from some things plainer than the things
they are to prove. The scope of it is to hold forth some privilege to
believers not common to others who are infidels ; for it is for the be
liever's sake that the other is sanctified. If it were a common privi
lege, the unbelieving husband had been as much sanctified in himself
as in his wife. Well, then, it is some special privilege, not common to
the marriage of an unbelieving couple. Again, whatever this privilege
be, it is something of importance ; for therefore is it mentioned neg
atively and positively, which the Holy Ghost useth not to do but in
weighty cases. Negatively, they are not as other children, unclean ;
but positively, they are holy. Again, mark the gradation: 'The
unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving
wife is sanctified by the husband ; else were your children unholy, but
now are they holy.' To be sanctified is more than to be lawful, and
to be holy is more than to be sanctified. All things, as meats, drink,
marriage, estate, are lawful to an infidel, but not sanctified, for they
are sanctified by the word and prayer ; and many things are sanctified
which are not holy ; as gold, silver, goat's hair, when they were dedi
cated to God ; they were changed in use, not in nature. The unbeliev
ing husband, to whom all things are impure, he is sanctified, that is,
set apart to serve God's providence to this holy end and use, that the
believing wife may bring forth children to God; as a nobleman
marrying a beggar conveyeth nobility to the children. Now, having
laid this foundation, let us see what is the meaning of 'not being
unclean, but holy.' The unclean under the law were those that might
not come into the sanctuary or into the temple. Holiness qualified
for worship, and made capable of ordinances: 'What God hath
cleansed call not thou common or unclean/ Acts x. 15, saith God to
Peter, speaking of the gentiles as capable of gospel privileges. And
so we have found out the sense. The children are holy ; though sinners
by nature, yet dedicated to God, and by virtue of the parents' covenant
accepted into the visible church. This agreeth with the exact rules
of friendship, to be a friend to us and our families ; as David was to
Mephibosheth, for Jonathan's sake : 2 Sam. ix. 7, ' Fear not, for I will
show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake.' So Kom. xi. 28,
' As concering the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but as touch
ing the election they are beloved for the fathers' sake.' For so many
thousand years. This is a friendship like God, whose kindness is
expressed in a way becoming himself. Well, then, every child is
capable of dedication to God in the solemn way of an ordinance. It
was a grief to Gehazi to have the leprosy cleave to him and his posterity ;
it is a comfort to you that your children are holy ; another leper was
born of him, another child is born to God of you.
More especially when the covenant breaketh out, then children are
SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3. 89
a blessing indeed, an heritage from the Lord : Gen. ix. 25, 26, ' Cursed
be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren. And he
said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem.' Ham is cursed in the person
of Canaan, whose progeny was excluded from the grace of the ordin
ances. Instead of blessing Shem, as he had cursed Ham, Noah blesseth
and praiseth God : ' Blessed be the Lord God of Shem/ God is his
God ; that is happiness enough, which is to be ascribed to his grace.
But to return r God hath implanted an affection in parents to their
children ; he hath a Son himself, and he knoweth how he loveth him,
and he loveth him for his holiness: Heb. i. 9, 'Thou hast loved
righteousness and hated iniquity ; therefore God, even thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' So many
times, in a condescension -to good parents, he bestoweth this privilege,
that they shall have godly children. Look, as to a minister, those
whom he converts to God, they are ' his glory and his joy, and his
crown of rejoicing at the day of the Lord,' 1 Thes. ii. 19, 20; so as to
those whom we have been a means to bring into the world, if they are
in the covenant of grace, it is a greater blessing than to see them mon-
archs of the world.
3. It is a gift and a blessing dispensed as a reward and heritage,
with respect to the obedience or disobedience of their parents. God
would by all ways and means engage us to godliness. Now because
our 'temporal happiness or misery much dependeth upon our relations
and children, he would make this one motive to invite us to walk in
his ways. This is one way or means to let in happiness or trouble
upon us. Sometimes he promiseth children, and flourishing children,
as a reward of piety ; and threateneth no children, or unhappy
children, as a punishment of disobedience. See Job v. 4, compared
with 25. Of the wicked it is said, ver. 4, ' His children are far from
safety ; they are crushed in the gate, and there is none to deliver them.'
It is promised to the godly, ver. 25, ' Thou shalt know also that thy
seed shall be great, and thine offspring shall be as the grass of the
earth.' So the second commandment : Exod. xx. 5,6, 'I the Lord
thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate
me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep
my commandments ; ' and many other places. Though not all the
godly, and only they, have the gift of prosperity, and a successful
posterity, yet God is pleased in express terms to adopt this blessing
into the covenant. "Wicked parents are ordinarily great snares and
plagues to their children, and the godly prove great blessings. Because
this is an argument often pressed in scripture, I shall a little state it,
how far wicked parents may procure a judgment, and godly parents a
blessing, to their children.
[1.] How far wicked parents may procure a judgment to their
children. Ans. Punishments are either temporal or eternal. For
eternal, no man is punished with eternal punishment for another's sins
properly and directly ; there we stand upon our own personal account :
occasionally a child may be punished eternally for his father's sin, as
being deprived of the means of grace by the parent's revolt from the
true religion. As for external means, the parents, who are a kind of
90 SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3.
trustees, may put away the means of grace from their families.
When God cometh to tender grace to them, he tendereth it to them
in the name of their whole house : Luke xix. 9, ' This day is salvation
come to this house, forasmuch also as he is the son of Abraham.' As
a believer, he had an interest in Abraham's promises : Gen. xvii. 7,
' I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after
thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God
unto thee, and thy seed after thee.' So Acts xvi. 31, ' Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house ; ' that
is, put in a way of salvation. If a family reject the strictness of
profession, and give up themselves to cursing, swearing, uncleanness,
gaming, hatred of reformation and of a lively ministry, the children
bora in the family may be justly left to be wicked by these examples,
and prejudiced against the ways of God.
For temporal punishments. These may be supposed to come botli
on those that continue in their wicked parents' paths and courses, or on
those who do break them off by repentance.
(1.) If they continue in them, then both parents and children are
considered as one body and society . Isa. Ixv. 6, 7, ' I will recompense,
even recompense into their bosom, your iniquities, and the iniquities
of 3rour fathers together.' There is a cup still filling ; and when we
add more water, then it runneth over. As by a figure added to a
number already set, the value is increased to a much greater sum than
the single figure would bear if it stood alone, so the personal sins of
the child are made much more heinous by the foregoing offences of the
parents ; or, as a fire that is already kindled, when it meeteth with
more combustible matter, the flame is the more increased, so by the
addition of the children's sins to their ancestors', the judgment is made
more exemplary and remarkable ; nay, it may be the judgment may
begin with the children, when the parents in this world do escape and
go unpunished. The parents kindle the fire, and the children come and
cast in more fuel ; and then no wonder if the burning be the greater.
(2.) If they be godly. The judgments may continue, though they
be sanctified, to their holy posterity. Thus God's quarrel for the sins
of Manasseh continued in the days of good Josiah : 2 Kings xxiii. 26,
' The Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, where
with his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provoca
tions wherewith Manasseh had provoked him.' Thus godly children
may bear in their bodies the fruits of their parents' uncleanness and
intemperance ; and their estates, which they had from their parents,
may moulder away in their hands. And this may teach parents, as
they love their children, to beware of leaving such sad debts upon the
heads of their posterity. Their children shall smart for the fruits of
their sin. We often see that the godly children of wicked parents are
ruined for the sins of their families, both in their persons and estates.
If you ask, For what sins ? Perversion of God's worship, as in the
second commandment ; persecution of God's children ; so Ahab's pos
terity was rooted out : 1 Kings xxi. 29, ' I will bring the evil in his
son's days.' Ill getting an estate : hcereditates transeunt cum onere —
the inheritance passeth with its burden. There is a curse goeth along
with it. Parents sell their own souls to make their children great, and
SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3. 91
God will show the fallacy of it by blasting that greatness : Job xx. 10,
' Hjs children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore
their goods.'
[2.] How far godly parents are blessed in their posterity.
(1.) Good men convey many a temporal blessing to their relations ;
as God blessed Ishmael for Abraham's sake : Gen. xvi. 10, ' And the
angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly,
that it shall not be numbered for multitude ; ' Gen. xxi. 13, ' And also
of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy
seed.' They have the blessing of Ishmael, if not the blessing of Isaac.
(2.) They are without scruple children of the covenant, in visible re
lation to God, and in better case than the seed of infidels ; not merely
as the offspring of your bodies, nor as deriving grace from you by
generation ; but because you have dedicated yourselves and all that
you have to God. They are capable of ordinances : Eom. ix. 16, ' For
if the first-fruit be holy, the lump also is holy ; and if the root be holy,
so are the branches.'
(3.) If they die before they come to the use of reason, you have no
cause to doubt of their salvation, God is their God . Gen. xvii. 7, ' I
will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after
thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God
unto thee, and to thy seed after thee ; ' compared with Gal. iii. 14, ' That
the blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles through Jesus
Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith/
And they never lived to disinherit themselves. As we judge of the
slip according to the stock, till it live to bring forth fruit of its own,
so here.
(4.) If they live to years of discretion, they have greater advantages
of being godly than others. Partly as your dedication doth oblige you
to greater care in their education : Eph. vi. 4, ' Ye fathers, provoke
not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord.' Partly as God tendereth them more means
with respect unto the covenant : Acts iii. 25, 26, ' Ye are the children
of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers,
saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the
earth be blessed; unto you first, God having raised up his son Jesus,
sent him to bless you.' You are ' children of the covenant,' therefore
' unto you first,' &c. Partly as the grace of the covenant runneth most
kindly in the channel of the covenant : Horn. xi. 24, ' How much more
shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own
olive-tree ? '
(5.) If they take to their parents' covenant, and fear and love God,
their blessings are increased. David urgeth that : Ps. cxvi. 16, ' 0
Lord, truly I am thy servant : I am thy servant, and the son of thine
handmaid.' When they are serious, they have a greater holdfast upon
God : 2 Chron. vi. 42, ' Remember the mercies of David thy servant.'
Well, then, out of all, you see it is such a blessing as is dispensed in
the way of a reward, yet it is such a blessing as may be turned into a
curse. It is a door whereby God may let in blessing or cursing upon
us ; and though they are an happiness, yet not our main happiness, but
dispensed sometimes as rewards and sometimes as punishments.
92 SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3.
Use 1. To reprove those who are not thankful for children, but do
grudge, and look upon it as a burden, when God blesseth them with a
numerous issue. These murmur at that which is in itself a mercy.
When we want them, we value them ; when we are full of children, we
are full of distrust and murmuring. It was counted an honour to be
a father in Israel. Surely those that fear God should not count an
happiness to be a burden : Ps. cxxviii. 3, 4, ' Thy wife shall be as a
fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, thy children like olive plants
round about thy table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that
feareth the Lord.' God maketh his people ' families like a flock,' Ps.
cvii. 41.
Use 2. Reproof to those who do not acknowledge and improve this
mercy.
1. Those who do not acknowledge this mercy. Surely parents should
acknowledge God in every child given to them. Much of his provi
dence is seen in giving and withholding children. We have songs of
thanksgiving very frequent in scripture upon this occasion. It is a
thing wherein God will have his bounty taken notice of by solemn
praises ; and for every child God should have a new honour from you.
What hath been done to the Lord for this ? Therefore do not look
upon the birth of a child as a natural thing ; see God in it. When
Rachel fell out with Jacob about her barrenness, ' Am I,' saith he, ' in
God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb ? '
Gen. xxx. 2. Specially confederate parents should acknowledge this
mercy. It is a mercy that, when a sinner is taken into favour, God will
acceptof our actions, which are the fruit of our souls, that the evil that is
in all these should not outweigh the little goodness which is in them ; nay,
that they should not only be accepted, but rewarded. But further, that
he should make a covenant with the fruit of our body, if you consider
your natural sinfulness, it is wonderful that your children should be
holy and God's portion. Grace, like a mighty river, will be pent within
no banks, but overflow all that a man hath. God loveth not to take a
single person, but grace cometh to our houses : Acts xvi. 31, 'Believe
in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.' Doth
the faith of the master -of the family save the family ? Occasionally it
doth, as it giveth a title to the means of grace. Therefore this should
be acknowledged with all thankfulness : 2 Sam. vii. 19, ' Thou hast
spoken also concerning thy servant's house, for a great while to corne.'
2. Those that do not improve the mercy, nor endeavour to make
children blessings indeed, by an holy education. Oh ! it will be a
great happiness to be parents to such as shall be heirs of glory 1 As
children ought to be looked upon as a great mercy, so also as a great
trust, which as it is managed may occasion much joy or much grief.
If parents doat upon them, they make them idols, not servants of the
Lord. If they neglect education, they will surely prove crosses and
curses to them, or if they taint them by their example. Young ones
are very apt to follow the example of those they see or converse with,
or are related to them. Those forty-two children, 2 Kings ii. 23, 24,
that were devoured of two she-bears, and cried bald-pate to the prophet
of the Lord, were children of Bethel, which was a nest of idolatry.
Therefore parents had need see what example they give, or suffer to be
SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3. 93
given, to their children, in contemning the servants of the Lord, or in
any other kind of sin.
'3. Reproof to children born of godly parents, and, notwithstanding
dedication and education, break out into unseemly and wicked courses.
For children born in a godly family to be naught is the greatest de
generation that can be. Ungodly children of godly parents, these wrest
themselves out of the arms of mercy, and instead of a blessing, become
a burden and a curse. They cast off their father's God : Prov. xxvii.
10, ' Thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not.' But what
shall be said of them that forsake their father's God ? They break
off and interrupt the course of the blessing : Jer. ii. 12, 13, ' Be aston
ished, 0 ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate,
saith the Lord ; for my people hath committed two evils, they have for
saken me, the fountain of living water, and hewed them out cisterns,
broken cisterns, that will hold no water.' He would have the sun to
look pale, the spheres to cast out their stars. Wilt thou be a traitor
to thy father's God ? Solomon continued alliance with Hiram because
he had been a friend to David ; and wilt thou break off the grace of
the covenant ? Cain excommunicated himself : Gen. iv. 16, 'Cain went
out from the presence of the Lord.' Ishmael, for scoffing malignity
against the power of godliness, was cast out of Abraham's family,
Gen. xxi. 9 ; Esau for sensual profaneness, Heb. xii. 15, despising
spiritual privileges for sensual satisfactions. The Jews were cast off
rf) dina-Tia, for unbelief, JR'om. xi. 20, or positive rejection of the
gospel. Christ made them the first offer.
Use 3. To exhort parents to bring up their children for God ; for
if they be an heritage from the Lord, they must be an heritage to the
Lord. Give them up to him again, as you had them from him at first ;
for whatever is from him must be improved for him. Dedicate them
to God, and educate them for God, and he will take possession of them
in due time. Hannah, though her son were a Levite born, and her
eldest son, yet she solemnly dedicateth him to God : 2" Sam. i. 27,
28, ' I prayed for this child, and the Lord hath given me my petition
which I asked of him, therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as
long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord.' Give God his por
tion. Now, if the dedication be sound, it will engage you to a serious
education. God dealeth with us as Pharaoh's daughter did' with Moses'
mother : Exod. ii. 9, ' Take this child away, and nurse it for me.'
Motives.
1. The express charge of God, who hath made it your duty : Eph.
vi. 4, ' Fathers, bring up your children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord ; ' Deut. vi. 7, ' These words shalt thou teach diligently
unto thy children , and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up ; ' Prov. xxii. 6, ' Train up a child in the way
he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' Now we
should make conscience of these commands, as we will answer it to
God another day.
2. The example of the saints,, who have been careful to discharge
this trust. God presumeth it of Abraham : Gen. xviii. 19, ' For I
know him, that he will command his children and his household after
94 SERMON UPON PSALM CXXV1I. 3.
him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judg
ment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath
spoken of him.' Observe, God reckoneth upon it ; and disappointment
is the worst vexation. And it is a means to obtain the promise and
the blessing : 2 Tim. iii. 15, ' And that a-rro fipefavs, from a child, thou
hast known the holy scriptures.' How? By his grandmother Lois and
mother Eunice, as is expressed elsewhere. Surely they are unworthy
to have children that do not take care that Christ may have an interest
in them.
3. The importance of this duty. Next to the preaching of the word,
the education of children is one of the greatest duties in the world ;
for the service of Christ and of the church and state dependeth upon
it. Families are the seminaries of church and commonwealth. Keligion
dwelt first in families, and as they grew into numerous societies, they
grew into churches. As religion was first hatched there, so there the
devil seeketh to crush it. The families of the patriarchs were all the
churches God had in the world ; and therefore when Cain went out of
Adam's family, he is said ' to go out from the presence of the Lord/
Gen. iv. 16. If the devil can subvert families, other societies and com
munities will not long flourish. Towns and nations are made up of
families. A fault in the first concoction is not easily mended in the
second ; here is the'first making or marring. And Solomon telleth us,
Prov. xx. 11, that ' even a child is known by his doings.'
4. To countermine Satan, who hath ever envied the succession of
churches, and the growth and progress of Christ's kingdom, and there
fore seeketh to crush it in the egg, by seeking to pervert persons while
they are young, and, like .wax, capable of any form and impression.
As Pharaoh would destroy the Israelites by killing their yevng ones,
so Satan, who hath a great spite at the kingdom of Christ, knoweth.
there is no such compendious way to subvert and overcome it as by per
verting youth and supplanting family duties. He knoweth that this
is a blow at the root. Therefore what care should parents take to
season children with holy principles, that they may overcome the
wicked one by the word of God abiding in them : 1 John ii. 14, ' I
have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word
of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.' And
cleanse their hearts by a regard to scripture direction: Ps. cxix. 9,
' Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way ? by taking heed
thereto, according to thy word.' They are defiled already, not as
vessels taken out of the potter's shop, but as vessels tainted and
polluted.
5. To make good your dedication of them to God in baptism. It is
a mockery to dedicate them to God, and to breed them up for the
devil, the world, and the flesh. God complaineth, Ezek. xvi. 20, ' Thou
hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, which thou hast born to me,
and these thou hast sacrificed unto them to be devoured.' It is as
disingenuous to offer them to God, and train them up for the world or the
flesh. If they prove openly sensual, we are troubled ; but if they
secretly please the flesh, we mind it not, but rather are secretly helpful
to them in it ; if worldly, we applaud them. Thus do we betray those
souls which we should be a means to save.
SERMON UPON PSALM CXXVII. 3.
95
6. If they prove naught, the affliction will be double if you have not
used the means to prevent it, if by your carnal fondness you have
borne with their sin, and given them their wills, or indulge it by
the evil example of your careless walking, or out of sloth have
neglected unwearied endeavours to instruct them in godliness. But
when YOU have done your part, you can the better submit to the will
of God.
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS IY. 8.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are just, ivliatsoever things are pure,
tvhatsoever things are lovely, lohatsoever things are of good report ;
if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things. — PHIL. iv. 8.
HEKE is a general rule for the regulating of our conversations. In it
observe —
1. The bounds of our duty are fixed, in seven 1 things — true, just,
honest, pure, lovely, of good report, if any virtue, or if any praise.
2. The accuracy and care that we should use not to transgress these
bounds : ' Think on these things,' ravra Xtxyt^ecrfle ; diligently take
heed to them, that you may practise them.
Doct. That Christianity doth adopt moralities, or precepts of good
manners, into its frame and constitution.
Here I shall inquire — (1.) What these moralities are, as they are
here set forth to us in the text; (2.) In what manner Christianity
doth enforce them ; (3.) For what reasons.
First, What are these moralities?
1. ' Whatsoever things are true,' d\r)6f). This concerneth both our
speeches and our actions.
[1.] For our speeches ; that they be free from lying and falsehood :
Eph. iv. 25, ' Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth
with his neighbour, fgr we are members one of another.' Lying is
when men wittingly and willingly, and with a purpose to deceive,
speak that which is false. The matter of a lie is falsehood, and the
formality of it is an intention to> deceive. Now this we may do two
ways — either by way of assertion or promise. The lying assertion is
concerning what is past and present ; thus Ananias lied to the Holy
Ghost when he brought part of the price instead of all : Acts v. 3,
' But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to
the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land ? ' The
promissory lie is when we promise that which we mean not to perform :
rrov. xix. 22, ' The desire of a man is his kindness, and a poor man
is better than a liar.' That which men should desire is to be in a
capacity to show kindness or do good ; for greatness in the world is
valuable upon this account, as it giveth a man a power to show kind
ness to others. But many that covet the praise and reputation of it are
1 Eight.— ED.
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS IV. 8. 97
very forward in promises, but fail in performance. Now a poor man
that loveth you, and will do his best, is a surer friend than such great
men as only give you good words, and sprinkle you with a little court
holy water. But this should be far from a Christian, for he is to keep
his word, though it be to his hurt : Ps. xv. 4, ' In whose eyes a vile
person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord : he
that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not/ Lying is a sin most
contrary to the nature of God, who is truth itself ; but the devil is
called the father of lies. And it is most contrary to the new nature :
Eph. iv. 24, 25, ' And that ye put on the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away
lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour ; ' Isa. Ixiii. 8, ' And
he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie.' It is
most contrary to human society, for commerce is kept up by truth.
[2.] For truth in actions. We should always keep the integrity of a
good conscience : Ps. xxxii. 2, ' Blessed is the man unto whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile ; ' 2 Cor.
i. 12, ' For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that
in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the
grace of God, we have had our conversations in the world, and more
especially to you-ward.' And truth, sincerity, and candour should be
seen in all that we do. Satan assaults you with wiles, but your strength
lieth in downright honesty : Eph. vi. 14, ' Stand, therefore, having
your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of right
eousness.' This will give you courage in the day of sore trial, and
comfort in the very agonies of death : Isa. xxxviii. 2, 3, ' And Hezekiah
turned his face towards the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, and said,
Eemember now, 0 Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before
thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is
good in thy sight.' Therefore we must carry ourselves sincerely, free
from hypocrisy and dissimulation, whether to wards God or men.
2. The next boundary is, 'Whatsoever things are honest/ a-epva,
grave and venerable, free from scurrility, lightness and vanity, in word
or in deed. Beligion is a serious thing, and accordingly leaveth an im
pression upon the heart, and maketh them serious that profess it. The
apostle would have the Christian women to carry themselves as women
professing godliness : 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10, ' In like manner also, that
women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and
sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but
(which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.' And
surely all Christians should be of a modest and good behaviour. A
garish levity will not become them that live in constant communion
with a great God. This cannot but make the heart more aweful and
serious, especially in the more aged : Titus ii. 2, ' That the aged men
be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.'
3. ' Whatsoever things are just,' Sticaia, giving to every one what is
due, and doing to others as we would be dealt with ourselves. There
fore we must defraud no man of his right ; whether superiors : Mat.
xxii. 21, 'Bender therefore unto Caasar the things which are Caesar's,
and unto God the things that are God's.' Or inferiors : Col. iv. 1,
' Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, know-
VOL. XVIII. G
98 SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS IV. 8.
ing that ye have a master in heaven.' So also to equals, not invading
each other's rights, not detaining from them anything that is theirs :
Horn. xiii. 8, ' Owe no man anything, but to love one another ; for he
that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.' That is a debt still owing,
and still to be paid : Mat. vii. 12, ' Therefore all things whatsoever ye
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; for this is
the law and the prophets.' The rule of justice, of doing to others as
you would they should do to you, standeth on these suppositions : The
actual equality of all men by nature ; did not he that made you make
them ? And the possible equality by providential disposure ; you may
stand in need of them as they do of you, and be under them as they
are under you.
4. ' Whatsoever things are pure ; ' therefore nothing that is obscene
or unchaste should be seen in or heard from a Christian. "Ayva signi-
fieth chaste and clean, as well as pure : Eph. iv. 29, ' Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to
the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.' Kotten
communication argueth a naughty heart, as a stinking breath doth
rotten and putrid lungs. So also for actions ; nothing filthy or unclean
should be done by us : Eph. v. 12, ' For it is a shame even to speak
of those things which are done of them in secret.' A Christian is
ashamed to speak what others are not ashamed to do ; but God seeth
in secret, and his law is our rule, and his eye should be enough.
5. ' Whatsoever things are lovely,' 7rpoa^\rj. There are certain
things which are not only commanded by God, but are grateful and
acceptable to men. Such are a loving, affable carriage, peaceable be
haviour, meekness, lowliness of mind, charity, usefulness : Rom. v. 7,
' For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a
good man some would even dare to die.' The apostle telleth us of
some things which are ' acceptable to God and approved of men,' Rom.
xiv. 18. Now these things a Christian must make conscience of : Eom.
xii. 17, ' Kecompense to no man evil for evil ; provide things honest
in the sight of all men.' What are those ? To live charitably and
peaceably : 1 Thes. v. 15, ' See that none render evil for evil unto any
man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and
to all men.' As in the body there is something that is lovely, and
appeareth so to all men, so in the soul. Now these are things which
we should look after. When the disciples lived christianly and in
peace and charity, they had favour with all the people : Acts ii. 46, 47,
' And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and break
ing bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people.'
Therefore by this lovely carriage we should commend our profession to
the world.
6. ' Whatsoever things are of good report,' ev<f>r)(jia. This is another
boundary ; for there are some things which have no express evil in
them, but they are not of good fame, as generally condemned by the
wise and sober. Now a Christian is first to look to his conscience ; but
because the honour of God and the credit of his profession is concerned,
he must avoid those things which have an appearance of evil : 1 Thes.
v. 22, ' Abstain from all appearance of evil.' And the rather because
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS IV. 8. 99
they are not over-tender of their conscience who are lavish of their
name. Indeed a Christian is not to hunt after the applause of men, yet
he is to do his duty, so that the holy profession be not blamed, nor evil
spoken of for his sake. It is a good and short decision of Aquinas,
Gloria humana bene contemnitur, nihil male agenda propter ipsam, et
bene appetitur, nihil male agenda contra ipsam. Then we rightly
contemn the applause of men when we do nothing ill to gain it;
and then we rightly desire it when we do nothing ill to forfeit it.
It is to be contemned if we must do evil to gain it : 2 Cor. vi. 8, ' By
honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report, as deceivers,,
and yet true.' Be contented with the glory that cometh of God only,
else we do not believe in Christ : John v. 44, ' How can ye believe,,
which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that
cometh from God only ? ' You cannot be the servants of Christ if
you honour men. As for our own credit, we must be content to be
evil-spoken of for the gospel's sake and our duties' sake* And it is,
well deserved by doing nothing on our part to hazard it. So 1 Peter
ii. 12, ' Having your conversation honest among the gentiles ; that
whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good
works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation,'
We are to stop the mouth of iniquity, and to put to silence the ignor
ance of foolish men ; not justly to cause our names to stink and be
unsavoury, but live down the reproaches of the world, as much as in us.
lieth, and bring the holy ways of God into request.
7. The last limitation is, ' If there be any virtue, or any praise.' I
join both these things together, because they are linked to one another,.
That is, if they found anything praised and esteemed in the world,
provided it be a virtue. Many things gain applause in the world
which yet are not virtuous and praiseworthy ; as the revenging of an
injury, zeal for a man's faction : Gal. i. 10, ' For do I now persuade men
or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I
should not be the servant of Christ.' So for peaceable compliance
with sin, and good-fellowship : Luke xvi. 15, ' And he said unto them,
Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth
your hearts ; for that which is highly esteemed amongst men is an
abomination in the sight of God.' Now Christians should abhor such
things, though never so much cried up in the world : there is a praise
of such things, but they are not virtues. Or else you may understand
this limitation thus : If there be any virtue, that is, something lower
than grace, any good thing among the heathens with whom they
conversed, they should take it up, and adorn religion with it. So if
there be any praise : Among good things some are more eminent ;
others, as they are not disproved, so they are not praised. Now any
such praiseworthy or commendable action they should imitate, and
adorn their profession with it. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are called
graces, but these commendable actions are called virtues.
Well, then, these are the general heads of Christian duties, which
they should seriously think upon, and propose them to themselves for
the regulation of their conversations, that they might do nothing but
what ^ was agreeable to truth, equity, sobriety, exact justice, purity,
chastity, and virtue. This for the first question.
100 SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS IV. 8.
Secondly, In what manner Christianity doth enforce them. This is
to be regarded, because there is a great deal of do about morality,
which some press to the neglect of faith and the love of God. Some
make their whole religion to be a mere morality, and so turn Chris
tianity into morality ; whereas a good Christian turneth his morality
into religion, all his second-table duties into first-table duties : Heb.
xiii. 16, ' But to do good and to communicate forget not, for with such
sacrifices God is well pleased.' Sacrifice is a duty of the first table, yet
alms is called a sacrifice well-pleasing unto God. But to make this
more fully appear, let me show you —
1. That Christianity deriveth all good conversation from the highest
fountain, the Spirit of God.
2. From the truest principles, faith in Christ and love to God.
3. It directeth it by the highest rule, the will of God.
4. And to the highest end, the glorifying and enjoying of God. All
else is but bastard morality, apocryphal holiness, that is not thus
deduced.
1. It deriveth all these things from the highest fountain, the Spirit
of sanctification, by which we are fitted for all these duties : Eph. v. 9,
' For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth/
These commendable virtues are also in a Christian, as the fruits of the
Spirit : Gal. v. 22, ' But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.' And till
we live in the Spirit, we are altogether unfit to do anything acceptably
to God. No virtue is truly saving and acceptable but what floweth
from the grace of regeneration.
2. It maketh them to grow out of their proper principles, faith in
Christ and love to God.
[1.] Faith in Christ. The apostle telleth us, Heb. xi. 6, c Without
faith it is impossible to please God.' Not only without the general faith
of God's being and bounty, but also without faith in Christ : Rom. vii. 4,
' We are married to Christ, that we may bring forth fruit unto God.'
As the children that are born before marriage are illegitimate, so all
that justice, temperance, and charity, which doth not flow from faith in
Christ, is but mock grace and bastard holiness.
[2.] Love to God : GaL v. 6, ' Faith worketh by love,' and therefore
maketh us tender of doing anything that may displease or dishonour
God : Titus ii. 11, 12, ' The grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath
appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present world.'
If you understand it of objective grace, then the gospel teaching is by way
of instruction, as a man teacheth a learner ; or if of subjective grace, it is
by way of persuasion and powerful excitement, or both ; that morality
is not kindly unless founded on the gospel, and never so thoroughly
promoted as by the principles laid down there. Now, no wonder they
that never felt the force of faith in Christ and love to God upon their
souls do so much cry up bare morality. Well, then, Christ healeth our
souls by his Spirit, and the Spirit worketh by faith and love, which are
the true principles of grace in the heart.
3. It directeth it by the highest rule, which is God's mind revealed
in his word, the absolute rule of right and wrong. Alas ! what partial
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS IV. 8. 101
directions are there elsewhere ! but Ps. xix. 7, ' The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul.' Others have, epyov vcipov, 'The work of
the law written in their hearts/ Horn. ii. 15. What cold enforcements 1
Now they that cry up right reason in defiance of scripture, and would
refer us to another rule, they are not thankful for this blessed revelation.
4. It is aimed at the highest end, the glorifying of God and the
enjoying of God. The pleasing and glorifying of God : 1 Cor. x. 31,
' Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God ;' Phil. i. 11, 'Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are
by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.' And the enjoying
of God : Acts xxiv. 14-16, l But this I confess unto thee, that after the
way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers,
believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets.
And have hope towards God, which they themselves also allow, that
there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of
offence toward God and toward men/ They have a care of alt this
justice, charity, temperance, in order to the attainment of everlasting
happiness in the vision and fruition of God. Others mind nothing but
their interests in the world : Acts xxiv. 26, ' He hoped also that money
should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him : therefore
he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him/
Thirdly, For what reasons.
1. Because grace doth not abolish so much of nature as is good, but
refines and sublimates it, by causing us to act from higher principles
and to higher ends. As the apostle saith that Onesimus was dear to
Philemon, ' both in the flesh and in the Lord/ Philem. 16, so if any
thing be pure, good, lovely, praiseworthy in the eye of nature, Christianity
doth not abolish, but establish it. Therefore a Christian should come
behind none in these praiseworthy qualities. The law of God requireth
this at our hands on better terms. He that sinneth against nature and
grace too is worse than an infidel : 1 Tim. v. 8, ' But if any provide not
for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied
the faith, and is wc-rse than an infidel ; ' Eom. xiv. 17, 18, ' For the
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ,
is acceptable to God, and approved of men.'
2. Because these conduce to the honour of religion. The credit of
religion- dependeth much on the credit of the persons that profess it :
Ezek. xxxvi. 20, 21 , ' And when they entered unto the heathen whither
they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them,
These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.
But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had pro
faned among the heathen ; ' 2 Sam. xii. 14, ' Howbeit because by this
deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to
blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die ; ' 2
Peter ii. 2, ' And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of
whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.' If they should be false,
unjust, turbulent, unclean, what will men think of God and Christ, and
the religion which he hath established ? Christiane, ubi Deus tuus f —
0 Christian ! where is thy God ? said a heathen to a Christian when
102 SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS IV. 8.
committing uncleanness. Titus ii. 10, ' Not purloining, but showing all
good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in
all things."
3. Our peace and safety is concerned in it ; partly because the world
is least irritated by a peaceable, just, and good conversation; it doth
mollify their spirits and mitigate their fury : 1 Peter iii. 13, 'And who
is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good ? '
That is, when he bridleth his tongue, seeketh peace, and doeth good.
And partly because God puts a conviction upon the consciences of
wicked men : 1 Sam. xxiv. 17, ' And he said to David, Thou art more
•righteous than I ; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have re
warded thee evil.' And so wicked men are restrained by reverence,
and are afraid to meddle with unstained innocency. And partly be-
-cause when we do not bring trouble upon ourselves by our own im
moralities, God taketh us into his special protection. It f olloweth upon
the text, ver. 9, ' These things which ye have both learned, and heard,
-and seen of me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you/ You may
expect much -of God's gracious presence when your conversations -are so
harmless and innocent ; and he will free you from many external vexa
tions, or give you inward tranquillity of mind.
4. Because these things flow from that internal principle of grace
which is planted in our hearts by regeneration : Mat. iii. 8, ' Bring
forth fruits therefore meet for repentance ; ' Acts xxvi. 20, ' That they
should repent, and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.'
What is regeneration on God's part is repentance on ours. Now there
are certain effects proper to this change, and that is the grave, just,
temperate, and holy living. And certainly where those effects are not,
there the cause itself is wanting ; for how can we evidence that our con
version and repentance is real and sound, unless we bring forth fruits
answerable ? What evidence can we have of the new nature but by
newness of conversation ? or of a change of mind, but by a change of
life ? We judge of others by their external works, for the tree is known
by its fruits ; and we judge of ourselves by the internal and external
works together. If within there be a love' of God, faith in Christ, hatred
of evil, delight in that which is good, a deep sense of the world to come ;
and all this discovered in an holy, sober, and grave conversation, this
completeth the evidence, and raaketh it more satisfying.
5. All the disorders contrary to these limits and bounds, by which
our conversations are regulated, are condemned by the holy and right
eous law of God, which is the rule of the new creature ; and therefore
they ought to be avoided by a good Christian, who hath a tenderness
upon him -of offending God in the least thing : Ps. cxix. 161, ' My
heart standeth in awe of thy word ; ' Prov. xiii. 13, ' Whoso despiseth
the word shall be destroyed, but he that feareth the commandment
shall be rewarded.' They dare not transgress in the least things : Mat.
v. 19, ' Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so to do, shall be called the least in the kingdom of
heaven.' As not in their spiritual duties, so not in moralities : Mat.
xxiii. 23, 'Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites t for ye pay
tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith : these things ought
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS IV. 8. 103
ye to do, and not to leave the other undone.' Hypocrites make a busi
ness about small matters, and neglect weighty duties. Yet the sincere,
by .the discharge of greater duties, are not freed from the obligation to
do the smallest duties ; both stand by the same authority.
6. These moralities are not small things; the glory of God, the
safety of his people, the good of human society, and the evidence of our
own sincerity being concerned in them. The apostle chargeth atheism
and disrespect of God on the neglecters of these things : 1 John iii.
10, ' Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God ; neither he that
loveth not his brother ; ' Gal. v. 14, ' For all the law is fulfilled in one
word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself/
Use 1. If religion doth adopt moralities into its frame and consti
tution, we must not leave them out of our practice and conversations ;
for ' we are the epistle of Christ,' 2 Cor. iii. 3. We are to ' hold forth
the word of life ; ' Phil. ii. 26. That which is just must be suitable
to the rule : Titus iii. 8, ' This is a faithful saying, and these things I
will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God
might be careful to maintain good works ; these things are good and
profitable unto men.' God would not have us omit any part of his
will.
Use 2. Here is an answer to those that ask, Wherein must we be
holy, and show our obedience unto God ? Besides what concerneth the
sanctification of the heart, here we are told plainly what concerneth
the regulating of the conversation. When the heart is once renewed,
then moralities must have their place and our exact care.
Use 3. That Christians should be known to be the best sort of men
in the world, abstaining not only from those things which the law of
God forbiddeth, but the custom of nations, that no blemish may lie
upon our profession.
SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14.
But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We
will not Jiave this man to reign over us. — LUKE xix. 14.
THESE words are part of a parable uttered by our Lord Jesus when he
came nigh to Jerusalem, where they thought he would assume the regal
power, and reign among them in great pomp and glory. To prevent
this misconceit, he puts forth this parable, wherein by the nobleman
he intendeth himself; by his servants, all believers, especially the
teachers and ministers of his church ; by the pounds given to them,
spiritual gifts and graces ; by his going into a far country to receive a
kingdom, his ascension into heaven, and sitting down at the right hand
of majesty ; by his own citizens that tumultuated during his absence,
the stiff-necked Jews, and by consequence all other people that refuse
his government ; by his return, his last coming to judgment, when he
shall reward every one according to his works. My purpose only ob-
ligeth me to insist upon that clause which expresseth the unwilling
ness of men to be subject to Christ, ' But his citizens hated him, and
sent a message after him,' &c.
In which words take notice of —
1. The crime, ' We will not have this man,' &c.
2. The persons guilty, ' His citizens ; ' John i. 11, ' fie came to his
own, and they received him not.'
3. The internal moving cause, ' They hated him.' Hatred is a
malicious dislike notwithstanding conviction : John xv. 23, ' He that
hateth me, hateth my Father also.' They did disclaim and renounce
all subjection to Christ, though they had enough to convince them of
his being the Messiah. In carnal and wicked men there is not only a
neglect of Christ, but an hatred of Christ ; partly because from neglect
the passage is easy to contempt and hatred ; partly because their
hearts being bestowed elsewhere, they have no affection to him, that
would reduce and reclaim them: John iii. 19, ' This is the condemna
tion, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds are evil ; ' and partly because they
count him as one that condemneth that course of life which they
affect : John iii. 20, ' For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.'
4. The manner of expressing their hatred : they ' sent a message
after him.' This must be understood with respect to the parable;
therefore this message they sent after him is nothing else but the perse-
SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14. 105
cution of the Christian faith, and the disciples that professed Christ's
name, which is as it were an open bidding defiance to Christ in heaven,
a sending a message after him. The apostle Paul saith of the Jews,
1 Thes. ii. 15, ' Who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets,
and have persecuted us ; and they please not God, and are contrary to
all men.'
5. The crime, which is wilful refusal of subjection to Christ : ' We
will not have this man to rule over us ; ' and here —
[1.] The thing refused is his reign. Where Christ cometh he will
be lord and sovereign. His kingdom is that administration which
requireth spiritual obedience from us ; this the licentious world cannot
endure.
[2.] The manner of refusing ; it is wilful, ov de\o/j,ev, ' We will not.'
They allege no lawful reason, but wilfully and contumaciously reject
his government ; and so it taxeth the obstinacy of the Jews, standing
out unreasonably against the faith.
Doct. That it is the spiritual kingdom of Christ which is most
opposed by the carnal world.
The Jews disclaimed him from being their king ; their whole car
riage towards him and his messengers speak this language, ' We will
not have this man to reign over us.' When he was present, they
contemned and slighted his person, calling him ' This man ' by way of
contempt ; yet in the parable he is represented as a nobleman, and heir
of a kingdom. When absent, and gone to receive a kingdom, they
abused his messengers. The rebellious world maketh defection from
Christ, because he is out of sight ; they will not be controlled by an
invisible king. But it was not the sin of the Jews only, but of the
gentiles also ; for why did the gentiles rage against the Lord and his
anointed ? Ps. ii. 3, ' Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away
their cords from us.' All the business of the rebellious world is to
cast away Christ's yoke, to dissolve the bonds of loyalty and obedience
to him.
I will prove — (1.) That Christ hath a kingdom ; (2.) That in all
reason this kingdom should be submitted unto ; (3.) What moveth and
induceth men so much to dislike his kingly office.
I. That Christ hath a spiritual kingdom , for all things concur here
which belong to a kingdom : here is a monarch, which is Christ ; a
law, which is the gospel ; subjects, which are penitent believers ; rewards
and punishments, eternal life and eternal torment.
1. Here is a monarch, the mediator, whose kingdom it is. Origin
ally it belongeth to God as God, but derivatively to Christ as mediator :
Ps. ii. 6, ' I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion;' Phil. ii. 10,
11, ' That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth ; and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.' This kingdom, which is exercised by a Kedeemer, doth
not vacate or make void our duty to God. No ; this new dominion is
not destructive of the former, but accumulative ; that is, it doth not
abolish the power and right which God hath to govern ; that continu-
eth still, and will continue as long as man receiveth his being from God,
and the continuance of his being by daily providence and preservation ;
106 SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14.
but this is superadded to the former. Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father : the right of governing is still in God, but the actual
administration is by Christ.
2. There are subjects. Before I tell you who they are, I must pre
mise that there is a double consideration of subjects. Some are subjects
by the grant of God, others are subjects not only by the grant of God,
but their own consent. By divine donation all things are put into the
hands of Christ, and under the power of, the Son ^ of God and our
Redeemer -, so no creature is exempted from his dominion ; no, not the
devils themselves, though revolters and rebels against God : Eph. i. 22,
' And hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be head over
all things to the church.' Whether they will or no, they are bound
to his absolute dominion and sovereign authority ; and so all men are
subjects of Christ's kingdom, partly by divine obligation bound to be
so, and partly by his overruling providence they are forced to submit
to his disposing will. There is a passive submission to his power,
though not a voluntary subjection to his laws ; but of this we speak ndt
now. The other sort is of those who are subjects by consent, who
willingly give up themselves to the Redeemer, to be saved upon his
terms : 2 Cor. viii. 5, ' But first gave their own selves to the Lord, and
unto us by the will of God.' And so the subjects of this kingdom are
penitent believers. Devils and wicked men are his subjects whether
they will or no ; but all Christ's people are his by a voluntary subjec
tion and consent, or yield up themselves to him by covenant. Now
these I call penitent believers, because both faith and repentance is
necessary to our entrance into this subjection.
[1.] Repentance, that we may lay down our former hostility, and so
enter into confederation and covenant with him. Therefore often
preaching repentance is called preaching the kingdom of God : Mat.
iv. 17, ' From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ; ' Mark i. 14, 15, ' Jesus came
into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying,
The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand ; repent ye and
believe the gospel.'
[2.] Faith is required ; for receiving of Christ is made equivalent
with believing : John i. 12, ' To as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believe in his
name.' Now what is receiving of Christ ? To entertain him to the
end for which he was sent of God ; or, in short, to own him as lord
and king; as is explained by the apostle, Col. ii. 6, * As ye have there
fore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.'
3. The law of commerce between this sovereign and these subjects
(for all kingdoms are governed by laws). Now the law of Christ is
the gospel or new covenant, which is both a rule of duty to show what
is due from us to Christ, and a charter of grace to show what we may
expect from him upon account of his merit and mercy, if we be duly
qualified ; therefore the whole design of the gospel is to bring us to an
humble submission and obedience to Christ's healing and saving
methods ; all the doctrines, precepts, and promises of the gospel tend
to this. The gospel is not only a promise, but a law : Rom. iii. 27,
called a ' law of faith ; ' and requireth not only confidence, but obed-
SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14. 107
ience : 2 Thes. i. 8, ' In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that
know not God, and obey not the gospel ; ' 1 Peter iv. 17, ' What
shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God ? ' It is
not enough to profess the gospel, but we must obey the gospel. Some
of the precepts of the gospel are mystical, such as believing in Christ :
1 John iii. 23, ' And this is his commandment, that we should believe
on the name of his son Jesus Christ/ Some moral, viz., the primitive
duty we owe to God : 1 Cor. ix. 21, ' Being not without law to God,
but under the law to Christ.' Not ai/o/io? but ewo/io<?.
4. Kewards and punishments.
[1.] For punishments. Though the proper intent and business of
the gospel is to bless, and not to curse, yet, if men wilfully refuse the
benefit of this dispensation, they are involved in the greatest curse that
can be thought of : John iii. 19, ' This is the condemnation, that light
is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because
their deeds are evil ; ' Heb. x. 29, ' Of how much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot
the Son -of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith
ye were sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit
of grace?' It will be more grievous to sin against our remedy than
our bare duty. More aggravating circumstances are in it ; and there
fore, the more it increaseth our torment, not only on God's part inflict
ing, but on our part reflecting upon our sin and ingratitude.
[2.] Kewards. The privileges of Christ's kingdom are exceeding
great.
(1.) For the present, pardon and peace are obtained, both in the
way of justification ; as, Rom. v. 1, ' Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' And also of
sanctification : Gal. vi. 16, ' As many as walk according to this rule,
peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.' This is
the entertainment God giveth to the obedient soul, and the fruit of
Christ's internal government.
(2.) Hereafter, eternal happiness, or an immutable state of glory :
Mat. xxv. 34, ' Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.' That is the consummation of the
kingdom of God ; and it shall be the portion of all those that obey
Christ, how despicable soever their condition be in this world : James
ii. 5, ' Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and
heirs -of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love
him?'
II. That in all reason this kingdom should be submitted unto —
1. Because of the right which Christ hath to govern. He hath
an unquestionable title by the grant of God : Acts ii. 36, ' Let all
the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same
Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.' And his own
merit and purchase : Bom. xiv. 9, ' For to this end Christ both died,
and rose again, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead
and living ; ' which should silence and quiet all rebellious motions.
Hath not God a right to dispose of you : and shall Christ lay down
his life to be head of the renewed estate, and at length be deprived of
108 SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14.
that honour, and that merely by the rebellious obstinacy of the
creature ? There can be no hope of exemption. His we must be,
whether we will or no. Our consent and willingness doth not add to
the validity of his title, only aggravateth our sin if we refuse or prove
unfaithful, or maketh our obedience acceptable if we be sincere in it.
Now God is tender of his grant, and Christ of his acquired right and
purchase, that he may not lose the fruit of his death and sufferings.
2. This new right and title is comfortable and beneficial to us. It
was the fruit of God's pity to mankind, to set up a new government,
which might be remedial of our misery, but not destructive of our
duty. It is a full remedy for our misery; for the purpose of it is
to effect man's cure and recovery to God. The scripture always
epeaketh of it as medicinal and restorative : Acts x. 38, ' God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power ; who went
about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil ;
for God was with him.' ' Preaching peace in his name, for he is Lord
of all.' So Acts v. 31, 'Exalted to be a prince and saviour, to give
repentance, and remission of sins,' that we might enjoy God's favour,
and live in his obedience. In this new remedial dispensation, God
aimed at the healing of our natures, and the restoring our peace and
comfort, that we might serve him with pleasure and delight, who
otherwise could not think of him without fear and horror, much less
set ourselves to please him with any hope of acceptation.
3. It is by his kingly office that all Christ's benefits are applied to
us. As a priest, he purchased them for us ; as a prophet, he giveth
us the knowledge of these mysteries ; but as a king, he conveyeth them
to us, overcoming our enemies, changing our natures, and inclining us
to believe in him, love him, and obey him : for he doth .not only
convey the benefits, giving us remission of sins, but he worketh in us
the qualifications, giving as well as requiring repentance : Acts v. 31,
' He hath exalted him to be a prince and saviour, to give repent
ance.' Well, then, since his executive power attendeth upon his kingly
office, we have no reason to dislike it, but to bless God for this part of
his administration. The fruit and effect of it is the gift of the Spirit,
by which all is applied to us ; so that the communication to us is done
this way : His work as a priest lieth with God ; and as a prophet and
king, with us. As a prophet, he maketh way by giving us the good
knowledge of God through the remission of sins ; but he actually
communicateth his benefits to us as our quickening head and king.
'4. Our actual personal title to- all the benefits intended to us is
mainly evidenced by our subjection to his regal authority. Certainly
without it we can have no benefit by Christ : Heb. v. 9, ' And being
made perfect, he is become the author of eternal salvation to them
that obey him.' And that agreeth not only with his doctrine, but
example : ver. 8, ' Though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by
the things he suffered.' Now, till this be cleared, we have no rest to
our souls : Mat. xi. 29, ' Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for
I am meek and lowly, and you shall find rest for your souls.' It is
good to believe his doctrine as a prophet, to depend upon his merit as
a priest, but if we refuse to obey him, our qualification is not complete,
and other acts are but counterfeit and pretended. For none know
SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14. 109
|
him aright but those that obey him ; none depend upon his merit but
those that trust him in his own way, and submit to his healing and
instructing methods. And it is the great mercy and wisdom of God
to state the terms so that poor tender consciences may sooner come
to ease and rest ; for no man, unless strangely infatuated, and slight
in settling his eternal interests, will question his obligation to duties,
but every serious soul will question their claim to privileges, unless
they see good ground and warrant. Now when we plainly demon
strate unto them that their all dependeth upon their receiving Christ
the Lord, and framing themselves to his obedience, they will more
easily hearken to us ; and resigning up themselves to him by covenant,
they more readily put themselves in the way of getting a solid and
unquestionable peace, and so by following their duty are sooner freed
from scruples about their interest ; for if this work be minded, it will
interpret itself, and make itself evident.
5. We shall be unwillingly subject to his kingdom of power if we
be not willingly subject to his kingdom of grace. God's decree is
passed that every knee must bow to Christ, by force and constraint,
or willingly and readily. If by constraint we are subjects, it is our
ruin and destruction ; if willingly, we have our reward. Christ will
utterly destroy the obstinate ; they shall feel the effects of his merely
regal, not his pastoral power : ' He will break them with a rod of iron,'
Ps. ii. 9. But his pastoral rod and staff are a comfort to his people,
Ps. xxiii. 4, for he ruleth them with a saving and gentle government.
Now you are left to your choice ; which pleaseth you best, his iron rod
or his pastoral rod ? to perish with the obdurate world, or to be con
ducted to heavenly glory ? to refuse your remedy, or submit to the
motions of his preventing grace ? Or let me thus express it : Christ,
who is set upon the throne for the exercise of his regal power, hath a
sword and a sceptre in his hand, to subdue his enemies and rule his
people. The sword is his all-powerful providence ; the sceptre is
his all-conquering Spirit. Now it is better to be in the number of
humble and obedient Christians than to continue his obstinate and
spiteful enemies; to consecrate ourselves and all that we have to
him, than to fall a sacrifice to his justice, and the revenges of his
indignation.
6. This government, which we so much stick at, is a blessed govern
ment. Christ himself pleadeth this, Mat. xi. 30, ' My yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.' It is sweet in itself, and sweet in the issue.
It concerneth us much to have good thoughts of Christ's reign and
government, for he doth not rule us for our hurt, or by needless laws,
that have no respect to our good and safety. Look upon them in them
selves ; what hath he required but such a sincere obedience as consists
in purity and charity ? Both which oppress not human nature, but
perfect it, and put an excellency upon us, which others have not :
Prov. xii. 26, 'The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour;'
Ps. xvi. 3, ' But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excel
lent, in whom is all my delight.' And look upon them in their event
and issue ; all that he hath required is in order to our happiness. If
repentance and faith, it is in order to our pardon and peace : Acts iii.
19, ' Kepent, that your sins may be blotted out when times of refresh-
110 SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14.
ment shall come from the presence of the Lord.' If moral obedience,
it is that by holiness he may lead us unto God, without which we
cannot see him and enjoy him, Heb. xii. 14. So that if our sinful
customs have not made us incompetent judges, this government should
be submitted unto and chosen, before liberty and freedom from it ;
for all these things are for our good.
III. What moveth and induceth men so much to dislike Christ's
reign and government.
1. The evil constitution of men's souls. This government is contrary
to men's carnal and brutish affections. Now the flesh is loath to be
restrained and curbed, and therefore ' the carnal mind is enmity against
God,' Kom. viii. 7. Part of this opposition remaineth in the re
generate : Kom. vii. 23, ' I see a law in my members warring against
the law of my mind ; ' and Gal. v. 17, ' For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ; and these are contrary one
to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.' There
fore no wonder if wicked men shake ofi" that yoke which they cannot
endure, and galleth them upon all occasions when they would fulfil
their lusts. Hence is it they refuse to be subject to Christ.
2. It comes from an affectation of liberty. Men would be at their
own dispose, and do whatsoever pleaseth them, without any to call
them to an account : Ps. xii. 4, ' Who have said, With our tongue we
will prevail ; our lips are our own ; who is lord over us ? ' They
cannot endure strictly to consider what they should say and do. So
they may please themselves, and advantage themselves, they will take
no notice of what is right or wrong, or any superior to whom they
are accountable. I remember it is said, Judges xxi. 25, ' In those days
there was no king in Israel ; every man did that which was right in his
own eyes.' So it is true here. Man, that is prone to all sin and wicked
ness, would have no king or lord over him, be under no government ;
therefore ' We will not have this man to reign over us/ There is a
false notion of liberty possesseth all our hearts. We take it to be a
power to do what we list, not a power to do what we ought. The ab
surdity of it would soon appear if we considered the mischiefs it would
produce in man's government. If men were under no rule and order,
what monsters of wickedness would they grow ! And the world would
soon prove a stage to act all manner of villanies upon. And the false
hood of it will more appear if we consider man in his relation to God.
He hath no true liberty but such as becometh a creature, whose abso
lute dependence doth necessarily infer his subjection to God, to whom
he is accountable for all his actions. So that his true liberty lieth in
a readiness to obey his proper lord : Ps. cxix. 45, ' I will walk at
liberty, for I seek thy precepts ; ' to will and do things pleasing to our
creator, preserver, and redeemer. Again, if man have a liberty, it must
be such a liberty as leaveth him in a capacity to pursue his chief good
and last end. The more we are restrained from this, the more we are
in bondage ; the less, the more free. Certainly the reasonable nature
is under a defect, as it is restrained and disabled from the fruition of
God, or seeking after it ; for man was made for this end, and is so far
fettered as he is kept from it. But this is little minded ; all our desire
is to live at large, and to have none to control us.
SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14. Ill
3. It proceeds from the nature of Christ's laws — (1.) They are
spiritual ; (2.) They require self-denial.
[1.] They are strict and spiritual precepts, which require the subjec
tion of the whole man to Christ ; thoughts, desires, inclinations, as well
as actions ; ' The law is spiritual, but I am carnal,' saith the apostle,
Horn. vii. 14 ; that is, it requireth inward purity as well as external
conformity. Now men will rather endure any external burdens, how
heavy and hard soever, than Christ's spiritual yoke. Take for an in
stance the pharisaical institutions and Christ's law. For the one, it is
said, Mat. xxiii. 4, ' They bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne,
and lay them on men's shoulders.' They had little compassion on the
people, and therefore imposed rigorous and severe ordinances upon
them. But, Mat. xi. 30, Christ saith, ' My yoke is easy, and my burden
is light.' Yet at that time there were more proselyted to the sect of
the pharisees than embraced the doctrine of Christ. Men will part
with anything sooner than their lusts, Micah vi. 6, 7 ; perform costly
sacrifices, deny many of the feelings of nature, and all that they may
keep their beloved sins. The sensual nature of man is such that it is loath
to be crossed, which produceth profaneness and dissoluteness, and men
engulph themselves in all manner of sensualities, because they are loath
to deny their natural appetites and desires, and to row against the
stream of flesh and blood. So the young man is said to walk in the
ways of his own heart and the sight of his eyes, Eccles. xi. 9. But if
nature be to be crossed a little, it is done by some only for a while, and
in some slight manner, and this produceth hypocrisy: Isa. Iviii. 5,
' To bow down the head for a day like a bulrush.' If this will not
quiet conscience, we are apt to exceed in outward observances and
rigorous impositions, or macerating the body by some by-laws of our
own, and this produceth superstition: Col. ii. 21, ' Touch not, taste not,
handle not.' We place our religion in abstinence from such meats, or
in such penances and exterior mortifications, and so lie bound in chains
of our own making. Thus these three great evils, profaneness,
hypocrisy, and superstition, grow upon the same stem and root. But
when Christ requireth us to serve God in the spirit, to subdue the
heart to him, this we cannot endure. Therefore in all these ways of
religion wherein men walk who would not have Christ to reign over
them, you may still observe they check at his spiritual laws.
[2.] Christ by his laws requireth self-denial : Mat. xvi. 24, ' If any
man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and
follow me.' We are to deny our own wit and our own will. Our own
wit or wisdom, so far as it is contrary to Christianity : 1 Cor. iii. 18, ' Let
no man deceive himself : if any man among you seemeth to be wise in
this world, let him be a fool that he may be wise.' To condemn our
own former life wherein we so much pleased ourselves, our own will ;
for none are longer to be at their own dispose : 1 Cor. vi. 19, 'What!
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is
in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own ? ' Now men
are so averse from this, that it is a kind of a miracle that any are
brought to deny themselves, and subject all their thoughts and desires
to Christ.
Use 1. Information.
112 SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14.
1. It showeth us whence all the contentions arise which are raised
about religion in the world. Some may ignorantly mistake things,
and some proud wits may oppose Christ's prophetical office, contradict
the mysteries of our most holy faith; some may lessen the merit of his
sacrifice, but the most general error is, men will not have him to reign
over them. All the corrupt part of the world oppose his kingly office.
Many that are right in doctrine are yet carnal as to practice. They
acknowledge the redemption of Christ, and justification by faith, but
will not make straight steps to their feet, and live by Christ's laws. I
am sure this is the great damning sin in the orthodox. And as to
doctrine in the reformed part of the world, alas ! what will it avail
you to cry up his merits, while you cannot endure his strict spiritual
precepts ? This is to set the saviour against the lawgiver, the priest
against the king.
2. It informeth us how much they disserve Christianity that will
hear of no injunctions of duty, or mention of the law of faith, or of the
new covenant as a law. Besides that they take part with the carnal
world, who cannot endure Christ's reign and government, they blot out
all religion with one dash. If there be no law, there is no government,
nor governor, no duty, no sin, no punishment nor reward ; for these
things necessarily infer one another. A governor inferreth a govern
ment, and all regular government is by law ; how shall the subjects
else know what is sin and duty ? for Verum est index sui et obliqui.
The law that stateth duty doth give us the knowledge of sin, and with
out a sanction of penalties and rewards all is but an arbitrary direction,
which we may observe or neglect at our pleasure, and no harm or
good come of it. Now these are horrid and uncouth notions, that stab
religion at the very heart.
3. It informeth us what a difficult thing it is to seat Christ in his
spiritual throne, namely, in the hearts of all faithful Christians. The
voice of corrupt nature is, ' We will not have this man to reign over
us;' and till we are brought under the government of Christ, 'other lords
have dominion over us ; ' as the prophet speaketh, Isa. xxvi. 13 ; and
they will not easily quit their possession. We are ruled by the devil,
the flesh, and the world. The devil, and we must be rescued from him
before we can be brought into the kingdom of Christ, Col. i. 13. Now
there is old tugging and wrestling to rescue the prey out of Satan's
hands. The world ; Christ's ransom respected that : Gal. i. 4, 'Who
gave himself that he might deliver us from this present evil world.'
And so doth the application of this salvation by the Spirit ; for till we
get rid of the worldly spirit we are not fit for Christ : 1 Cor. ii. 12,
' Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit of
God/ So much as the spirit of the world is deadened in us, so far doth
Christ prevail upon us. So for the flesh. Men are given up to their
own hearts' lusts till God changeth them, and care not for God, nor
Christ and his salvation ; brutish appetite and sense governeth them.
But what will be the issue of these things ? See Horn. viii. 13, ' If ye
live after the flesh, ye shall die.' Well, then, to bring us back again
to God, that we may totally resign up ourselves to him, you see what
a power is necessary to vanquish the devil, and save us from the world,
and change our own flesh by his Spirit.
SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14. 113
4. It informeth us of the reason why so many nations shut the door
against Christ, or else grow weary of him. You see frequently men
can' bear any religion rather than Christianity in its power ; sottish
superstitions, such as were practised and in vogue among the gentiles ;
popery, which is palliated atheism, or gentilism tricked up in a Christian
dress and form, half Christianity ; the form, not the power ; privileges,
not the duties. The world disputeth it with Christ by inches. What
is the reason ? His spiritual kingdom, which is not calculated for the
interest of the carnal world, and altogether draweth us to an heavenly
life and state ; those that submit to it, or would speak of it, exasperate
the world against them, as upbraiding their course of life.
5. It informeth us how ill they deal with Christ who have only
notional opinions about his authority, but never practically submit to
it. Many will say, We must receive Christ as a king, as well as a
priest and prophet ; but do we live accordingly ? Luke vi. 46, ' Why
call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ? ' Professed
opinions, unless followed with suitable actions, are but a mockage of
Christ, and a cheat and fallacy that we put upon ourselves. A mock-
age of Christ : Cui res nomini subjecta negatur, is nomine illuditur —
He that wants the thing signified by the name is deceived by the name.
They did little honour to Christ who buffeted him and spit upon him,
and all the while cried, ' Hail, king of the Jews ; ' so whilst we call
him lord and king, but make little conscience of his precepts, we deny
him the honour in deeds which in words we ascribe to him. So that a
practical sense of Christ's authority and right to govern should be
deeply impressed upon our hearts. When is it practical ? When it
breedeth an awe upon us, and checketh sin ; as the Eechabites were
afraid to transgress the commandment of their father : Jer. xxxv. 6,
' They said, We will drink no wine ; for Jonadab the son of Kechab,
our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye,
nor your sons for ever.' So Joseph, Gen. xxxix. 9, when tempted by his
mistress to lie with her, he repels the temptation, saying, ' How^can I
do this great wickedness, and sin against God ? ' So all that have a
reverence of their supreme Lord, you shall find that it works upon all
occasions. If tempted to fleshly lusts, Do this to please thy flesh, they
answer as the apostle Paul, Rom. viii. 12, ' We are debtors, not to the
flesh, to live after the flesh/ If they be assaulted by the persecutions
of the world, still they have the authority of the great Lord. If threat
ened for speaking in his name, and commanded not to speak at all, or
teach in the name of Jesus, as the apostles Peter and John answered,
Acts iv. 19, ' Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto
you more than unto God, judge ye ; ' so I dare not obey the wills of
men, or the inclinations of the flesh, but my great Lord. If Satan would
draw you to any inconvenience, answer as Christ himself did to Peter,
dissuading him from suffering : Mat. xvi. 23, ' Get thee behind me,
Satan, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men.' When there is something that doth constrain within us,
and urgeth us to a constant obedience ; for Christ, that requireth us to
die unto sin, doth also require us to live unto righteousness ; when the
sense of this becomes as an habit or new nature in us, or the principle
of our course of living, it puts the soul upon obedience ; it constraineth
VOL. XVIII. H
114 SERMON UPON LUKE XIX. 14
us most powerfully to live in him and to him : Col. ii. 6, ' As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him ; '
ver. 10, 'Ye are complete in him •' and Bom. vi. 16, ' Know ye not
that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are
to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness ? '
Use 2. Exhortation. If we would distinguish ourselves from the
carnal world, let us resolve upon a thorough course of Christianity, own
ing Christ's authority in all things.
1. If we be to begin, and have hitherto stood against Christ, oh ! let
us repent and reform, and return to our obedience : Mat. xviii. 3,
' Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven.'
2. Kemember that faith is a great part of your works from first to
last : John vi. 27, ' Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the
work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.' All the
grace and mercy of the new covenant is begun, kept up, and carried
on by faith. We are sincerely to believe on him before we can rightly
obey him.
3. Your obedience must be delightful, and such as cometh from love:
1 John v. 3, ' For this is the love of God, that we keep his command
ments.' Believers are not called to the obedience of slaves, nor to be
acted only by the fear of hell, but to the obedience of sons and children,
that you may obey with love and delight. Forced motives endure not
long ; fears will abate, and then your duty be neglected. Love should
be as a new nature, and the habitual constitution of our souls ; and you
should act not as driven to obedience, but as inclined to it, and delighted
in it: Ps. xl. 8, ' I delight to do thy will, 0 God ; ' for this is a sove
reignty, not forced upon us, but consented unto.
4. Your obedience must be very circumspect and accurate: Heb. xii.
28, ' Having received a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have
grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly
fear.' A kingdom may be received, either by a king to govern, or sub
jects to be governed. A king to govern : Luke xix. 12, ' A certain
nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom.' Or subjects
to be governed, when we submit to the sovereign, to enjoy the privileges
which belong to that kingdom. So we must serve him with reverence
and godly fear ; for boldness in sinning, and coldness in duty, is a
depreciation of his majesty. He is ' a great king/ as God pleadeth
it when they brought a corrupt thing for a sacrifice, Mai. i 13. No
terrors comparable to his frowns, no comforts to his smiles. So Ps. ii.
11, ' Serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling.' Obey him
most circumspectly, with all carefulness, watchfulness and diligence,
making it your chief business to please him.
5. It is a considerable part of our work to look for our wages, or
expect the endless blessedness to which we are appointed: Titus ii. 13,
' Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the
great God ; ' Col. iii. 1, 2, ' If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God : set
your affection upon things above, and not upon the earth ; ' Phil. iii. 20,
1 But our conversation is in heaven, from whence we look for a Saviour,
SERMON UPON LUKE XIX.
115
the Lord Jesus Christ.' That we may see that we have considerable
motives to do what Christ require th of us. It is for our master's honour ;
and besides, it puts life into our work, and maketh our painful
obedience comfortable and sweet to us ; for all this is but the way to
eternal life.
6. The reign of Christ doth not only establish your duty, but is the
ground of your safety ; for he is set down upon the throne of majesty,
to protect his subjects and destroy his enemies. Besides the endless
reward in another world, there are many evidences of his goodness, and
signal preservations and deliverances in this world ; at least peaceable
opportunities of serving him, while he hath a mind to employ us. He
can powerfully support us against all our enemies : Isa. xxxiii. 22,
' The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king ;
he will save us.' As a sovereign protects his subjects that continue
loyal to him, so will Christ be our sovereign. Upon this confidence
must we carry on our obedience, notwithstanding opposition : 1 Tim,
iv. 10, ' For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we
trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of
those that believe/
7. One part of our obedience helpeth another, sets the soul in a right
posture ; as in the wheels of a watch, the whole motion is hindered
by a defect in a part : the less complete you are in all the will of God,
the more difficult will it be.
UPON LUKE II. 52.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with
God and men. — LUKE ii. 52.
THESE words are spoken of our Lord Jesus Christ. In them two things
are observable — (1.) Christ's growth ; (2.) The consequent of it.
1. Christ's growth, both as to body and soul : He ' increased in wisdom
and stature.'
2. The consequent of it : He attracted the love of ' God and men.'
The point I am to speak of is this —
Doct. Jesus Christ himself, in respect of his human nature, which
consisteth of body and soul, did grow and improve.
1. Let us state this growth of Christ.
2. Give you the reasons of it. For stating it —
[1.] Certain it is that there are two distinct natures in the person of
Christ, divine and human ; the one infinite and uncreated ; the other
created and finite ; for he is ' Emmanuel, God with us, ' Mat. i. 23 ;
' Of the seed of David, and yet declared to be the Son of God with power,'
Eom. i. 3, 4 ; ' The Word was made flesh,' John i. 14 ; ' The man God's
fellow,' Zech. xiii. 7 ; ' A child,' yet the ' everlasting Father,' Isa. ix.
6 ; born at Bethlehem, yet his goings forth were from everlasting,
Micah v. 2 ; ' The bud of the Lord, and the fruit of the earth,' Isa. iv. 2.
Now according to this double nature, so must his growth be determined :
surely not of the divine nature ; for to the perfection of it nothing can
be added ; an infinite thing cannot increase. So his knowledge is in
finite ; he knew God, and all things.
[2.] In his human nature there are two parts — his body and his soul.
The text saith he grew in both. As to his body, and growing in stature,
there is no difficulty. As to his soul, the doubt is whether he grew
really, or in manifestation only. I think really his soul improved in
wisdom, as his body in stature ; as others of his age are wont to ripen
by degrees. In the same sense that he is said to increase in stature, he
is said also to increase in wisdom, for both are coupled together ; and
he increased in stature really, in deed and in truth ; so that he daily
became a more eminent person in the eyes of all.
[3.] It is not said he grew in grace, but in wisdom. To want degrees
of grace cannot be without sin. And ' our high priest was holy, harm
less, undefiled, separate from sinners,' Heb. vii. 26 ; yet his knowledge
as man was perfected by degrees. We always grow in knowledge:
SERMON UPON LUKE II. 52. 117
' Follow on to know the Lord.' He was ignorant of some things, as the
day of judgment ; for in Mark xiii. 32, it is said, ' But of that day and
hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither
the Son, but the Father.' His divine nature was ignorant of nothing ;
but as to his human, he was ignorant of it. Some say he knew it not
to reveal it ; so the Father may be said not to know it as well as the
Son. This simple nescience was no sin.
[4.] This knowledge or wisdom wherein Christ grew may be under
stood thus —
(1.) There is the habitual knowledge, and the actual apprehension of
things. Christ had the foundation and root of all knowledge when
conceived by the Spirit, from his very conception ; but the actual know
ledge came afterwards. He had the spirit of wisdom and promptness
of understanding, but the act of knowing is as occasion is offered.
(2.) There is a knowledge of generals, when singulars arc not
actually known. So Christ was deceived in the fig-tree, Mat. xxi. 19 ;
and he inquireth for Lazarus' grave : John xi. 34, ' And he said,
Where have ye laid him ? '
(3.) There is a knowledge intensive and extensive. Intensive, a clear
knowledge ; extensive, to more objects. Christ grew in both. He grew
as to clearness of apprehension, and as he knew more objects.
(4.) There is a knowledge infused and experimental ; so Christ knew
more by experience : 2 Cor. v. 21, ' Who knew no sin ; ' that is, by
experience in himself ; and Heb v. 8, ' He learned obedience by the
things which he suffered.'
2. For confirmation — (1.) By scripture ; (2.) By reason.
[1.] By scripture. Next the text take that, Isa. vii. 14-16, ' Behold,
a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel : butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse
the evil and choose the good : for before the child shall know to refuse
the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be for
saken of both her kings.' The child spoken of should not be any
fantastical appearance, or mere imaginary matter, but a very man-child,
fed and brought up with such food as other children were, that by
growing up he may come to years of discretion. He should have such
notice of good and evil as children usually have when the use of reason
and understanding begins first to put out and exercise itself ; as Deut.
i. 39, ' Your children which in that day had no knowledge between good
and evil ; •' that is, had no ability to discern the one from the other. So
that Christ was as other infants, bating only his nearness, to the godhead.
The sun is the sun still, at morning or at high noon ; yet at first rising
it is more glorious than any other creature. Well, then, the gift of the
Holy Ghost showed himself in him, and was acted and discovered
according to the progress of his age, and the increase of bodily strength.
At twelve years old he disputed with the doctors.
[2.] By reason.
(1.) He every way made himself like man, except sin : Heb. iv. 15,
' For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feel
ing of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin.' He was carried nine months in the womb of the blessed
Virgin.
118 SERMON1 UPON LUKE II. 52.
(2.) As his capacity was enlarged, so his wisdom discovered itself ;
and the power that was in him showed forth itself. In us, as the body
increaseth, so the powers of the reasonable soul are increased also.
(3.) The effects of the personal union were communicated to the
human nature, non necessitate naturce, sed Ubertate voluntatis ; not by
necessity, but free dispensation. As to all creatures, God considereth
what is profitable, and may make them useful in the state wherein he
will employ them. So to Christ ; he knew all things that were necessary
for the execution of his office. So God hid from or revealed to his
human nature according to his pleasure.
(4.) The divine nature did by degrees show itself in him, lest before
the time it should be too prodigious, and not so suiting to the dispen
sation of the gospel, which is a dispensation of faith, not of sense, and
so hinder the beautiful order of it, which from inconspicuous beginnings
was to be carried on to a great increase. His kingdom was from a
grain of mustard-seed to grow up into a tree ; so in his person, he was
from a state of childhood to grow up into the stature of a perfect man,
and then to suffer and die ; which might have been impeded and
hindered if those things which were to be done by him as a man were
done by him as a child.
(5.) There was need of a continual growth, that there might be a
distinction between the state of his humiliation and exaltation. As in
us, we know now but in part, but then that which is perfect will come,
1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10 ; so in Christ, he was to know somewhat as a child,
more as a man. And there is a distinction between what he knew as a
man in the state of his humiliation, and what he knoweth now in the
state of his exaltation. He still knew what was necessary to his office :
John v. 27, ' And he hath given him authority to execute judgment
also, because he is the Son of man.' He exerciseth lordship over all
things, therefore his knowledge is as vast as his empire. In Judea he
knew those he conversed withal, yea, he knew their hearts ; but now all
judgment is put in his hand. And herein is nothing asserted unworthy
of Christ ; for as the divine nature did ia some manner shut up and
conceal and hide its majesty in itself during the humiliation of the Son
of God, that it might not discover that dignity which appeared in his
exaltation, so the spirit of wisdom was held in and restrained, that it
might not presently put forth its perfections, but by little and little
according to the state of Christ.
Use 1, Is to teach us to admire the condescension of the Son of
God, who submitted to all our sinless infirmities, and would grow, and
be improved in soul as well as body.
1. The oftener we think of this, the more should our hearts be filled
with reverence at this stupendous mystery. It is without controversy
great, that the Son of God should be as other infants ; be carried nine
months in the womb, be suckled, swaddled, brought up as other
children, and grow in wisdom and stature as they do. Is this the
great God that made all things, and governeth all things at his plea
sure ? Is this the fountain of wisdom, and the author of all perfec
tion ? Yes, it is he. But this abasing is for our sakes. The begin
ning of his humiliation was in the very womb, the progress of it from
the cradle to the grave.
SERMON UPON LUKE II. 52. 119
2. If Christ grew in wisdom, so must we : 2 Peter iii. 18, ' But
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.' We have not only incapacity, but the veil of ignorance. It
is little we know of God at our best. Therefore let us open and ripen
by degrees, from good going on to better, that we may be best at last.
When it is declining time with the outward man, yet the inward man
may be renewed day by day, 2 Cor. iv. 6. Long use of means and
many experiences should perfect us. Therefore let there be a continual
progress in grace and knowledge, till we grow to a perfect man in
Christ Jesus, Eph. iv. 13. To be a child of days is as monstrous a
thing as to keep to the stature of a child when thirty or forty years
old. So it is in Christianity : Heb. v. 12, ' When for the time ye ought
to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again the first prin
ciples of the oracles of God.' When God hath given us means to
improve our knowledge, it is inexcusable to be ignorant.
3. It informeth us that ignorance from natural defect and imper
fection is no sin ; for Christ was ignorant of some things, especially
in his childhood. Ignorance may arise from several causes —
[1.] From want of revelation. We are not bound to know a
thing never revealed to us : Deut. xxix. 29, ' The secret things belong
to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us
and our children for ever.'
[2.] From the sublimity or excellency of the matter to be known.
It is above our capacity : Ps. cxxxi. 1, ' I do not exercise myself in
things that are too high for me/ We are to understand what is
revealed, and must improve ourselves more and more.
[3.] From neglect of the means God hath given man to improve
his knowledge. This will be charged on man as a great crime,
especially of things necessary, or such as concern our everlasting
salvation, or conduce thereunto. Many have time and teaching
enough, but they wofully misspend it, and are ignorant of the principles
upon which the knowledge of other things doth depend, and so are
incapable of farther instruction, or the higher points of the gospel.
This doth not excuse, but is a great sin.
[4.] From natural defect ; as in mad folks and naturals, and for a
time children. Now this is not culpable, and is not charged upon
man at his. last trial ; for God accepteth according to what a man hath,
and not according to what a man hath not : 2 Cor. viii. 12, ' For if
there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man
hath, and not according to that he hath not.'
II. The consequence ; as he increased in wisdom and stature, so he
increased in favour with God and man ; that is, he obtained a testi
mony of the favour of God, and the general love and good-will of
men. The same is said of Samuel : 1 Sam. ii. 26, ' And the child
Samuel grew, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with
men ; ' that is, he was acceptable to God and men. God's favour is
that by which he loveth his image. The more conspicuous the image
of God is in any creature, the more is God delighted in that creature.
Now there was more of the image of God to be seen in Christ a
youth than in Christ a child ; which is no more unworthy of Christ
than to be a child.
120 SERMON UPON LUKE II. 52.
Doct. The more true and saving wisdom men have, the more
acceptable they are to God, and many times to men also.
Prov. iii. 4, ' So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in
the sight of God and man ; ' that is, acceptation and good success. So
it is said of the primitive Christians, whilst Christianity was in its
simplicity, Acts ii. 47, ' That they praised God, and had favour with
all the people.' They praised God, as being acceptable to him, and
received his blessing ; and men had reverence and esteem for them :
Prov. xxii. 11, ' He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips
the king shall be his friend ; ' that is, a man that keepeth exactly to his
duty, he hath an holy boldness, and a grace in his speeches, which many
times, by the blessing of God, procureth him favour with great ones.
But a question or two must be considered.
Quest. 1. How is it possible to please God and men, since they that
please God are hated by the world ? John v. 19, ' Because ye are not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you ; ' and 2 Tim. iii. 12, ' All that will live godly in
Christ Jesus must suffer persecution ; ' and they that please the world
cannot be the servants of God, Gal. i. 10.
Ans. 1. We ought to carry it so that our life may be pleasing to
God and approved of men. That is our duty, whatever the event be :
Acts xxiv. 16, 'And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a
conscience void of offence towards God and towards men ; ' 2 Cor.
viii. 21, ' Providing for honest things in the sight of the Lord and in
the sight of men.' Just and holy things must we provide, that evil
men may have no cause to reproach us, and good men may be edified
by our example. A life then it must be that is pleasing to God, and
deserveth to be approved of men, that if they hate us, we may not be
in fault : 1 Cor. x. 32, ' Give no offence, neither to Jews nor to gentiles,
nor to the church of God.' Many times men bring trouble upon
themselves by their own folly.
2. There is a difference between convincing men and having a
testimony in their consciences, and humouring them in their sin. It
is humouring them in their sin which is man-pleasing, inconsistent
with the pleasing of God. But to be made manifest first to God, and
then in their consciences, is another thing, 2 Cor. v. 11. We must not
please them by joining with them in their sin. We buy the approba
tion of men at too dear a rate, if we buy it by the breach or neglect of
our duty to God.
3. Though men like not the way of godliness so as to embrace it
and follow it, yet they admire it : Prov. xii. 26, ' The righteous is more
excellent than his neighbour ; ' and Mark vi. 20, ' Herod feared John,
knowing that he was a just man and an holy.' The evidence of their
consciences doth compel them to approve and honour them.
Quest. 2. How far is it lawful to mind the approbation of men, or
to make it any motive to us ? Since it is said, John v. 44, ' How can
ye believe, that receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour
that cometh of God only ? '
Ans. 1. We are not to cast off all respects to a good name, because
it is an excellent blessing : Prov. xxii. 1, ' A good name is rather to be
chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and
SEEMON UPON LUKE II. 52. 121
gold.' It is of great use for our service and safety. The credit of
religion dependeth much on the credit of those that profess it. Now,
that we may not be a disgrace to Christ, nor act as blemished instru
ments, we must endeavour to preserve a good name. A pastor of the
church must be one that hath a good report of them that are without,
lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil, Sta/SoXo?, the
slanderer, 1 Tim. iii. 7. The rather must we mind this, because men
first make shipwreck of a good name, and then a good conscience ;
and he that is lavish of his credit is very seldom tender of his con
science. And it is of great use for our safety. Infamy cast upon the
people of God is a forerunner of more trouble, and showers of slanders
are a forerunner of the grievous storms of mischief and persecution.
The devil is first a liar and then a murderer, John viii. 41. In the
primitive times they did invest Christians with bear-skins, and then
bait them as bears ; first count them offenders, and then prosecute
them as such. The devil is afraid to meddle with unstained innocence.
Valens the emperor spared Paulinus out of reverence to the unspot-
tedness of his life. Therefore, since it is a great part of our security
and protection against violence, it must not be slighted.
2. This must not be our first and chief motive ; that is the favour
of God : 2 Cor. v. 11, ' But we are made manifest unto God, and I
trust also are made manifest in your consciences.' The approbation
of God must be chiefly sought after ; we are not sincere without it ;
for sincerity is a straight and sincere purpose to please God in all
things. The approbation of men must rather follow than be aimed
at. Laus humana non appeti debet, sed sequi. This is the consequent
of well-doing, not our proper scope. Gloria bene appetitur, niliil male
agenda contra ipsam, et bene appetitur,1 nihil male agenda propter
ipsam. Credit is well sought when we do nothing ill against it, and
when we do nothing ill to obtain it.
3. The favour of men may be sought when we take it as the fruit of
the favour of God ; for all good cometh from his favour. He giveth
it us by his secret influence on the hearts and counsels of men : Prov.
xvi. 7, 'When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his
enemies to be at peace with him.' He made Laban and Esau kind to
Jacob. God can procure unthought-of favour by . his Spirit ; either
bridle their rage, or dispose them to show you favour. Sometimes he
casts a terror into the hearts of enemies, and sometimes inclineth them
to show favour ; as Jacob when he met with Esau : Gen. xxxiii. 4,
' Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him.' So Joseph found favour with Potiphar, Gen. xxxix. It is
God that maketh friends for us, when we seem to be destitute and lost
in ourselves. It is not our merits, much less our compliances, that
procures it.
4. It is the glory of God, and the honour of the gospel, and the
safety of religion, which should be our chiefest aim and scope in all
these things : Mat. v. 16, ' Let your light so shine before men that they
may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven ; ' and 1 Peter ii. 12, ' That they may by your good works,
which they shall behold, glorify God.' And because it is not our main
1 Qu. ' contemnitur ' ? — ED.
122 SERMON UPON LUKE II. 52.
aim, if it come, we should not be over-affected with it. If it come not,
we should not be over-troubled ; but in good and bad report we should
approve ourselves to be the faithful servants of the Lord, 2 Cor. vi. 6.
Man's judgment is not to be stood upon ; God will not ask their vote
and suffrage for our admission into eternal glory. As we must not
forfeit it by any fault of our own, so we must not desire it as our great
happiness ; in this, as well as in other temporal things, we must refer
all to God.
Quest. 3. But what wisdom is requisite that we may increase in
favour with God and man ?
Ans. 1. In the general, an innocent holy conversation is that which
procureth a good name, and respect with God and man. It will
certainly be accepted with God ; and as to men, you cut off occasion
from them that do desire occasion : 1 Peter iii. 16, ' Having a good
conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as evil-doers, they may
be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.' Live
down reproaches by a clear innocency.
2. More particularly, by making conscience of morals rather than
rituals: Horn. xiv. 18, 'He that in these things serveth Christ is
acceptable to God and approved of men.' The weighty matters, piety,
justice, charity, these carry their own evidence with them, and bespeak
their references in the consciences of men. Will the world value a man
for his zeal for or against ceremonies, when other things do not answer ?
Suppose he be in the right, yet who will regard a man purely for his
Tightness in opinion ? It is hypocrisy, condemned of God, and not
very well liked of man, to tithe mint and cummin, and not very well
regard the weightier things of the law : Mat. xxiii. 23, ' Woe unto you,
scribes and pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye pay tithe of mint, anise, and
cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy, and faith : these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the
other undone.'
3. Yet more particularly, though men care not for piety, yet they
care for righteousness and duties of the second table. We have more
light in things that are inferioris hemisphcerii, of the lower orb and
rank ; and though we are not to neglect the other, yet these must have
a chief part in our practice : Horn. xii. 17, * Providing things honest
in the sight of men.' There justice, truth, equity are regarded as
conducible to the good of human society, and men are wise in their
own matters.
4. Once more, love, kindness, gentleness are very taking in the
world, and our religion excludeth them not, but recommendeth them
to us : Kom. v. 7, ' For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet
for a good man some would even dare to die.' For a man of a rigid
innocency scarce any would die, but for a good and bountiful man
some would even dare to die. The contrary is observed of the Jews,
who had a .bitter zeal : 2 Thes. ii. 15, 'They please not God/and are
contrary to all men.' Therefore we should study to excel in those
things that are good. To be good should be our constitution, and to
do good the business of our lives.
Use. To press us to get and increase in this heavenly wisdom,
whereby we may get the favour of God and men.
SERMON UPON LUKE II. 52. 123
1. We must seek to get the favour of God above all things, which
is the life of our lives and the joy of our hearts : Ps. xxx. 5, ' In his
favour is life ; ' and Ps. iv. 6, 7, ' Lord, lift up the light of thy coun
tenance : thou hast put gladness into my heart, more than in the time
when their corn and wine increased.' That should be our chief care ;
direction, preservation, blessing do all depend upon it. The favour of
God is either mercy or grace. Oh ! seek this, in the first place, that
you may have the love of God and the comfortable effects of it : Kom.
ii. 29, ' Whose praise is not of men, but God/
2. Seek also the favour of men. Let us be careful not to offend
them, but seek their favour, and that both of the good and bad. The
good, that they may help you in the way to heaven, and you may be
edified by them ; the bad : Col. iv. 5, ' Walk in wisdom towards them
that are without, redeeming the time.' There is great wisdom
required in a Christian's carriage towards the carnal and profane, lest
we scare them from Christ, or give them occasion to speak evil of
religion : 1 Tim. v. 14, ' Give no occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully ; ' and 2 Cor. vl 3, ' Giving no offence in anything, that
the ministry be not blamed.'
SERMON UPON PHIUPPIANS II. 7.
But made himself of no reputation. — PHIL. ii. 7.
THE apostle, to cure their pride, which was the cause of their divi
sions, urgeth Christ's example. His lowliness and humility is set forth
by two things — terminus a quo and ad quern, or the height of eleva
tion wherein he stood, and the depth of humiliation to which he conde
scended. The former, ver. 6, the latter in the 7th and 8th verses.
1. The height wherein he stood : ver. 6, ' Who being in the form of
God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God.' That phrase is to
be regarded, vTrdp^ov ev pop^y 0eov, ' being in the form of God.' By
the form of God is meant the divine essence, as clothed with glory and
majesty. As the form of a servant is really a servant, so his being in
the form of God showeth that he was from all eternity true God,
adorned with divine splendour, glory, and majesty. The other phrase,
ov% apTrcvy/jbov r)<yrj(TaTo TO elvai laa @e<w, ' he thought it no robbery to be
equal with God,' signified that this doth justly and naturally belong to
him, and was not usurped by him. The devils were thrown out of
heaven for usurping divine honour : 2 Peter ii. 4, ' God spared not the
angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into
chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment ; ' and Jude 6, ' And
the angels, that kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
he hath reserved to everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judg
ment of the great day.' They were not contented with the place they
were in, but would be independent of themselves, equal to God, by
usurpation and robbery ; and so, instead of angels, became devils. But
Christ is not God by usurpation, but God by nature; he was not
thrust down, but came down.
2. His exinanition and abasement, which is — (1.) Generally set
forth ; (2.) Particulars are mentioned.
[1.] Generally, efcevaa-ev eavrbv, 'He made himself of no reputation,'
in the text ; eraTreivwo-ev eavrov, ' He humbled himself,' ver. 8.
[2.] The particulars are his incarnation, mean life, and accursed
death. Let us stand a little, and consider this condescension by com
paring the terms. That the creator should stoop so low as to become
a creature, and go down from the form of God to the form of a servant,
from equality with God to subjection to men, from being Lord of all
to a state of obedience, and that obedience carried on in the way of
the most perfect self-denial, ' Obedient to the death,' and that death
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7. 125
clothed with all the circumstances that might make it grievous, it was
painful, ignominious, and accursed.
' I shall insist only on the general description of it, eKevaxrev eavrbv,
'He made himself of no reputation ;' emptied himself, lessened him
self ; in the next verse, ' humbled himself/
Doct. That the Lord Jesus did for our sakes empty, lessen, and
humble himself.
I shall open three things — (1.) How far Christ was lessened;
(2.) That this was his own voluntary act ; (3.) That this was for our
sakes.
I. How far Christ was lessened. It chiefly lieth in these two
things — (1.) Obscuring his godhead ; (2.) Abatement of his dignity.
1. His godhead was obscured by the interposing veil of our flesh. He
did empty himself of that divine glory, splendour, and majesty which
before he had ; not by ceasing to be what he was, but by assuming some
thing to himself which he was not before, viz., the infirmity of the human
nature, which did for a time hide his divine glory, so that little of it did
appear, and that to some few only that narrowly observed him : John
i. 14, ' We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the
Father.' To the generality it was otherwise : Isa. liii. 2, ' He shall
grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground ,
he hath no form or comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him.' As the covering in a dark lantern
hideth the light from shining forth, so did the human nature obscure
his divine glory : for he assumed not this nature as it shall be in heaven,
perfectly glorified, but as it is now since sin entered into the world,
clothed with manifold infirmities. He came in the form of a servant,
not of a glorified saint. The apostle, Bom. viii. 3, calleth it, ' The
likeness of sinful flesh.' The estate and condition of his assumed flesh
was exposed to all those infirmities which in us are the punishment of
sin. Though he continued still infinite, eternal, and omnipotent, and
in his greatest abasement was still the Lord of glory, yet his exter
nal habit and appearance was that of a mean afflicted man ; and the
divinity, though not separated, withheld its influence, to leave the
human nature to suffer whatever the humanity was capable of. As it
exposed the soul to desertion, so the body to all manner of sufferings,
and death itself.
2. His dignity was lessened, and there was a depression of the
glory of his former state, that which the Komans called capitis
diminutio, a lessening of state and condition. The eternal Word set
himself at nought, lessened and humbled himself from the condition
of being Lord of all to that of a subject and ordinary man : Gal. iv. 4,
' But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law.' From a judge of the world he be
came a party. It was a condescension of God to take notice of man's
misery : Ps. cxiii. 6, ' Who humbleth himself to behold the things that
are in heaven and in the earth.' Much more to make a party in it,
and to be found among the miserable.
Three steps of condescension we may eminently take notice of —
[1.] That Christ, 'who thought it no robbery to be equal with God,'
is made less than God : John xiv. 28, ' My Father is greater than I ;
126 SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7.
compared with John x. 30, ' I and my Father are one/ As mediator
incarnate, he undertook an office designed him by God, and obeyed
him in all things. They are one in essence, yet the Father was
greater than he ; not as he was God, but man and mediator, and in
his present state of humiliation. For he bringeth it there to prove
that, by departing out of the world then, he should be exalted to a
more glorious estate than that in which he was during his abode upon
earth, because the veil should then be laid aside, and that glory which
he had with God before the world was made should fully appear :
John xvii. 5, ' And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was/
[2.] That he was not only lesser than God, but lesser than the
angels, rjKarrwcras avrov ftpa^v n Trap ayyeXovs, Heb. ii. 7, ' Thou
madest him a little lower than the angels,' or for a little time, the
time that he spent here on earth. Man is inferior to an angel, as
man, in the order of being ; much more as mortal, for the angels never
die ; therefore his very incarnation and liableness to death was a great
lessening of his dignity. Though the incarnation of Christ was the
exaltation of our nature, yet it was the depression and humiliation of
the Son of God. God could stoop no lower than to become man, and
man could be advanced no higher than to be united to God.
[3.] That in the human nature he was depressed beyond the ordinary
condition of man. For he came in such a form and course of life as
was beneath the ordinary rate of mankind : Ps. xxii. 6, ' I am a worm,
and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people/ So Isa.
liii. 3, ' He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with griefs, and we hid as it were our faces from him ; he
was despised, and we esteemed him not ; ' as a vile and abominable
creature, both despised, and rejected, scarce deemed worthy the name
of a man, or to have any converse and fellowship with them. It is in
Hebrew, D^TT bin the leaving off of a man; as if we should say, the
very list and fag-end of mankind ; so low and mean that the nature of
man can hardly descend lower : Mark ix. 12, ' The Son of man must
suffer many things, and be set at nought ; ' it is egovSevadfj, made
nought worth, or nothing. Thus did he appear in the meanest and
most abject form of mankind, not in any glorious estate and majesty.
Survey the whole course of his life ; he was born of a poor virgin, and,
instead of a better place, laid in an inn ; which probably being taken up
by persons of great quality, he was laid in the basest place of the inn,
in a manger. His birth was revealed to poor shepherds, not to em
perors and kings, not to Csesar at Home. Presently after his birth he
was banished together with his mother into Egypt, and exposed to the
troubles and toils of a long journey into a strange country for refuge.
Afterward, till he appeared in his ministry, we read little of him. His
supposed father a carpenter, and he himself called so : Mark vi. 3, ' Is
not this the carpenter ? ' He made yokes and ploughs, saith Justin
Martyr. Certainly it is probable that, as he submitted to other parts
of the curse, so this : ' In the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat thy
bread.' In the course of his ministry he suffered many affronts and
reproachea Surely his life was a life of sorrows. We find him beg
ging water when thirsty, John iv. 9 ; that a fish paid tribute for
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7. 127
nim, Mat. xvii. 27. He had little money, and had no certain resi
dence and place of abode, but lived by contribution : Mat. viii. 20,
* The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son
of man hath not where to lay his head.' . At his death, never was
child of God under so much misery as Christ himself. His own
heavens, his own Father, his own godhead, did hide their face and
consolation from him. God's wrath pressed the weight of punish
ment, with the full power of justice, both upon his soul and body.
Those for whom he died despised him. He himself, being emptied of
all things which make men respected in the world, was depressed lower
than any man, and was as a worm to be trod upon. He was made a
matter of common talk and reproach in all men's mouths, condemned
by the ruling part of the world, and set at nought by the basest of the
people, derided and scorned in his most holy behaviour, his bitter
sufferings made matter of sport and laughter, malice feeding itself
with pleasure upon his pain and misery, and expressing itself with the
basest signs of mocking which disdain could devise, flouting at his
saving doctrine, and insulting over him as if he had neither been the
Son of God nor an honest man ; and all this was counted little enough
for satisfaction of justice, exacting of him the due punishment of our
sins.
II. That this was his own voluntary act. He made himself of no
reputation. You may read that men set him at nought : Acts iv. 11,
' This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders.' Nay,
we read, Heb. ii. 7, ' Thou madest him a little lower than the angels.'
It was an act of God himself ; yet on Christ's part it was voluntary,
undertaken for the glory of God and the good of men. It was not
imposed upon him by constraint, without his consent, or against his
will. An act of love and an act of obedience are truly consistent. A
punishment is imposed upon us against our will, but here was a volun
tary susception of our burden. None of this was due to him upon his
own account, but ours. It was no punishment for his self-exalting,
but an act of gracious condescension. This appeareth in scripture two
ways —
1. In that what he was to do and undergo was proposed to him,
and he willingly accepted of the terms and conditions. When no
kind of sacrifices and offerings were sufficient to take away sin and
save sinners, then he said, ' Lo, I come to do thy will,' Heb. x. 6, 7.
It was told him what it would cost him if he would deliver and save
mankind ; all was written down in God's book ; that he must be made
under the law, take upon him the form of a servant, make his soul an
offering for sin. How did he like these conditions ? ' I was not,' saith
he, ' rebellious, neither turned away back,' Isa. 1. 5. No ; he refused
not the terms, but cheerfully submitted to them : ' I delight to do thy
will, 0 God.' He delighted in the thoughts of it long ere it came
about: Prov. viii. 31, ' Rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth,
and my delights were with the sons of men.' And when it was to be
actually done, he repented not.
2. The scripture assigneth this work unto the love and condescen
sion of Christ himself, as the next and immediate cause of his engage-
ing in it, and performance of it : Gal. ii. 20, ' I live by the faith of the
128 SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7.
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me ; ' Eph. v. 25,
26, ' Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word ; ' Kev.
i. 5, 6, ' Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood/ The apostle telleth us, 2 Cor. viii. 9, ' Ye know the grace
of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he
became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.' He con
descended to a poor and low condition, and suffered therein for our
good, that we might be partakers of the riches of the grace of God.
III. That this was for our sakes. Christ hath a double relation —
(1.) As our mediator, redeemer, and saviour ; (2.) As the pattern and
example of holiness in our nature. Both ways it was for our sakes.
1. As our mediator. So he emptied himself that we might be filled
with all grace. He was born of a woman that we might be born of
God : Gal. iv. 4, 5, ' When the fulness of time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons ; '
2 Cor. v. 21 , ' He was made sin for us that knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him.' He was made a curse
that we might have the blessing: Gal. iii. 13, 14, 'Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us ;
for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. That
the blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles through Jesus
Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.'
He was forsaken for a while that we might be received for ever. And,
to speak to the very case, 2 Cor. viii. 9, ' He was made poor for us,
that we through his poverty might be rich.' There are some things
in the mediation of Christ which belong to ministry, others to authority.
Those which belong to ministry, as to be in the form of a servant, and
die ; he must be a man for that. Some things belong to authority,
as to bring us back to God, to make our peace with God, to convey
the Spirit, to vanquish Satan, to raise the dead, to deliver us from hell,
to make us everlastingly blessed ; he must be a God for that ; but so
as first that which is necessary to be done by his manhood be. done
for us ; first the merit of his humiliation was to be interposed before
we could be acquainted with the power of his exaltation. God took
this way, partly because we were to be restored in a way contrary to
that by which we fell. We fell by pride, and we must be restored by
humility. We would be as God, not in a way of blessed conformity,
but cursed self-sufficiency. Therefore, to expiate this pride, God
must become like man, take our nature, and suffer in it Once man,
in the pride of his heart, attempted to be like God ; and God by a
mystery of humility became like man, that he might bring man into
a nearer degree of likeness to God. Partly because the honour of his
justice required it. Keconciliation supposeth satisfaction ; for we are
not at peace with God till his justice be appeased. And the Spirit of
God had not been sent if God had not been at peace with us, for this
is the token of his friendship. And till the Spirit be given to change
both our natures and estate, we have no title to the pardon of sin and
eternal life. Therefore the merit of Christ's humiliation is at the
bottom of all the good we expect from God. Partly because he
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7. 129
delightetli to carry on our salvation by contraries. Christ emptied
himself to fill all things, became poor that we might be rich, brought
life' out of death, covered his glory, wherewith he would enrich the
world, under shame and disgrace. In the same way that Christ pur
chased it we obtain it. A Christian is tossed with tempests, and yet
the peace of God preserveth his heart. He hath nothing, and yet
hath all things ; was disgraced in the world, and yet approved of God.
There was nothing stronger than Christ's seeming weakness ; in his
lowest abasement he discovered the greatest power of his godhead.
He satisfied the justice of God, overcame death and his Father's wrath,
triumphed over. Satan, crushed his head when he bruised his heel. The
apostle telleth us, 1 Cor. i. 25, ' The foolishness of God is wiser than
men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men,' TO papov ical TO
aaOeves. The foolish part and the weak part, that which in man's
opinion hath least wisdom or strength in it. Nothing is such a
glorious act of wisdom and power as salvation by Christ dying, Christ
abased ; as also to bring a Christian to heaven by afflictions, rather
than to suffer him to be prosperous in the world.
2. By way of pattern and example. Christ, that came to set open
the way to heaven, would also teach us the way to heaven, not only
by his doctrine, but example. Christ made himself of no reputation,
and therefore we should be dead to the reputation and grandeur of
the world, which is the great diversion and hindrance to the heavenly
life. The apostle, when he bringeth this instance, he saith, ' Let the
same mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus,' Phil. ii. 5. This
very thing is propounded to our imitation. The Son of God had
wisdom to choose, right to enjoy, power to procure, the best condition
which the world affordeth ; but yet he chose a mean state of life,
subject to many afflictions and sorrows. Here I shall show — (1.) The
power of Christ's example in the general ; (2.) What he teacheth us
by emptying himself, or making himself of no reputation,
First, His example hath an alluring power, or great force in moving ;
this is the example, not of an equal or inferior, but of a great person,
one far above us. This great person is Jesus Christ our Lord, the great
messenger of the God of heaven, who came to reclaim mankind from
their vain courses, and to instruct them in the way of life.
[1.] His example is a perfect and unerring pattern ; for his life is
religion exemplified, a visible commentary on God's word. He came
not only to restore us to God's favour by his merit, but to set us an
example : 1 Cor. xi. 1, ' Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ.'
Then you cannot err, if you follow Christ in his imitable actions.
[2.] It is an engaging pattern. Christ's submission to a duty
should make it lovely to us. The disciple is not above his lord, nor
the servant above his master : ' If I then, your Lord and master, have
washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet,' John xiii. 14.
Shall we decline to follow such a leader ? 1 John ii. 6, ' He that saith
he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk even as he walked.'
Alexander, conqueror of the world, achieved most of his great exploits
by his example. When hardly beset, he would make the first in every
danger and desperate action ; when his army grew sluggish, as laden
with spoils of their enemies, he commanded all his carriages to be
VOL. xvm. ' I
130 SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7.
fired ; and when they saw their king devote his rich treasures to the
flame, they could not murmur if their mite and pittance were con
sumed also. If Christ had only taught us contempt of the world, and
not given us an instance of it, his doctrine would be less powerful.
[3.] It is an effectual pattern. The Spirit of Christ goeth along
with it, as well as his doctrine : 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' We are changed into
the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.'
His steps drop fatness. He hath left a blessing behind in all the way
that he hath trodden before us, and sanctified it to us, that we may
follow after him with comfort.
[4.] It is a very encouraging pattern ; for he sympathiseth with us in
all our difficulties, having entendered his own heart by experience :
Heb. ii. 18, ' In that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able
to succour them that are tempted ; ' Heb. iv. 15, ' We have not an
high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are.' He knoweth the weak
nesses and reluctances of human nature in our hardest duties, and will
pity and pardon our infirmities.
[5.] The example of Christ will be armour of proof against all
temptations. The apostle saith here, ver. 5, ' Let the same mind be in
you which was in Christ Jesus ; ' and in 1 Peter iv. 1, ' Forasmuch then
as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with
the same mind/ If this mind be in you, temptations will have little
force upon you.
Secondly, What he teacheth us hereby.
[1.] Patience under all the indignities we undergo for God's sake in
the course of our pilgrimage : 1 Peter ii. 21, it is said, ' Christ suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps.' So
Heb. xii. 2, ' Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame.' Let us be contented to be abased for him. He descended
from heaven to the grave, as low as he could, for us ; therefore let us
submit to any condition for his glory. Some that profess his name
will suffer nothing for him. If they may enjoy him or his ways in
peace and quietness, well and good ; but if trouble arise for the gospel's
sake, immediately they fall off. The most, yea, the best, have a secret
loathness and unwillingness to condescend to a condition of trouble
and distress for the gospel. Now to these I will but propound these
three considerations —
(1.) If Christ had been unwilling to die for us and suffer for us, if
the same mind had been in Christ, what had been our estate and con
dition to all eternity ? Without his sufferings we should have suffered
eternal misery. If you would not have Christ of another mind, let the
same mind be in you.
(2.) We cannot lose for him as much as he hath done for us : 2 Cor.
viii. 9, ' Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his
poverty might be rich.'
(3.) We are gainers by him if we part with all the world for his sake :
Mark x. 29, 30, ' There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or
eisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7. 131
and the gospel, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time,
houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands,
with persecutions ; and in the world to come eternal life.' Oh ! then,
do not stand upon terms. The same mind or spirit answerable to Christ
was that of David : 2 Sam. vi. 22, ' I will be yet more vile than thus.'
Christ became vile for us, made himself of no reputation ; and shall
we be flouted out of our religion ? If he had disdained to endure grief
and sorrows, and stood upon befitting terms, what had become of us ?
[2.] Humility. We are far inferior to Christ, and shall we stand so
much upon our reputation? Mat. xi. 29, 'Learn of me, for I am
ineek, and lowly in heart.' Learn of me, not to make worlds or work
miracles, but to be contented with the lowest place, the meanest service,
to be anything and do anything to bring glory to God ; and that not
out of necessity, but choice : Mat. xx. 28, ' Even as the Son of man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.' It is brought to
check aspiring or affecting domination in the church. They that love
the pre-eminence, would be great and high, seem to dislike Christ's pro
ceeding ; especially those that rend and tear all to advance themselves
or to grow greater in the world. See that magnificent preface to the
history of Christ's washing his disciples' feet : John xiii. 3, ' Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that
he was come from God, and went to God.' Poor worms ! that are but
three degrees distant from dust and nothing, how do we stand upon
our terms ! Christ, when his own thoughts were most filled with his
own glory, doth the meanest office. Surely, considering Christ's
humility, we should no more over-value ourselves, nor desire high
esteem with others, nor affect pre-eminence, nor undervalue and despise
others.
[3.] More exact obedience. Christ's condescension was a special act
of grace and love, but it was also a signal act of obedience. It is so
called in the 8th verse, ' He humbled himself, and became obedient to
death, even the death of the cross.' It was done in pursuance of the
Father's command ; and elsewhere, Heb. v. 8, 9, ' Though he were a
son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered ; and
being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them that obey him.' By the multiplicity of his sufferings he learned
obedience ; and the impression is according to the stamp and seal.
Christ came to be the leader of an obeying people.
[4.] Self-denial as well as obedience. Preferring a public interest,
the glory of God, and the good of souls, before his own glory as God,
and the interests of that natural life that he assumed : Rom. xv. 3,
'Christ pleased not himself;' and John xii. 27, 28, 'Now is my soul
troubled, and what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour ; but
for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name/ That
was enough, if God was glorified. Every Christian should be thus
affected: Phil. i. 20, 'That Christ may be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life or by death.'
[5.] The last lesson is contempt of the world and all the glory thereof.
Christ teacheth us this lesson by making himself of no reputation two
ways —
(1.) The example of his own choice. The Lord of heaven and earth
132 SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7.
despised and neglected the glory and riches of this world. He passed
through the world to sanctify it as a place of service ; but chose not
pomp of living, nor the happiness of it, lest we should choose it as our
rest and portion : ' They are not of the world, as I ain not of the world,'
John xvii. 16. Those that are dearest unto God must look by crosses and
trials to be fitted for another world. If a man say never so much for
contempt of the world, yet live in the love of it, his saying is nothing.
But Christ would be a pattern of his own doctrine. Contempt of
the world is a lesson of great consequence ; salvation lieth upon it :
1 John ii. 15-1 7, ' Love not the world, neither the things that are
in the world : if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not
in him ; for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world ; and the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will
of God abideth for ever.' Whether we are high or low, full or kept
bare, it concerneth us all to learn it. Though we flow in wealth, we
should be as having nothing, and sit loose from the creature. If we
are poor, we must count grace a preferment : James i. 9, 10, ' Let
the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted ; but the rich, in
that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he shall pass
away.' There is required of all an hearty preparation for, when they
are not called to a patient enduring of, afflictions for Christ's name :
Phil. iv. 12, 'I know both how to be abased, and I know how to
abound ; everywhere and in all things I am instructed, both to be
full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.' This is of
a hard digestion to a natural man. Now Christ's example is a great
help to us to check our worldly desires ; let us not affect greater emin-
ency in the world than Christ had; and to check the vanity of fulness,
or our carnal complacency, that it may not be a snare to us : 1 Tim.
v. 6, ' The woman that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.'
Christ was a man of sorrows ; do you profess Christ, and yet are you
addicted to vain pleasures, and not able to deny them ?
(2.) As it is an argument to confirm us in the certainty of the
happiness of the world to come. It were best to choose the easiest life
here if we did not believe eternity, to live a life of pomp and ease.
The troubles and miseries of the godly have been counted a sure argu
ment to confirm it : 1 Cor. xv. 19, ' If in this life only we have hope in
Christ, we are of all men most miserable.' God would not make us
miserable by our duty. And 2 Thes. i. 5, evBet^f^a, rfjs Siicaias Kpto-eas
rov @eo{), ' It is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God.'
If the consideration of godly men's sufferings in this world be of
moment to such an inference, much more the sufferings of Christ, who
was not only a man good and innocent beyond example, instructing
the souls, curing the bodies of so many men, but also the Son of God.
His exaltation is a pledge of our happiness, and his humiliation an
argument he is gone there as our forerunner.
Application to the Sacrament. This duty bindeth us both to the
mediatory and moral consideration of Christ's abasement.
1. The mediatory consideration of Christ's abasement. That we
may grow in faith and love, we remember the death and sufferings of
the Lord Jesus for the increase of faith and love.
SERMON UPON PHILIPPIANS II. 7. 133
[1.] Faith. Here is the foundation laid of all our happiness, and
deliverance from sin and misery. Here is a merit and a price full
enough to purchase all needful graces. He became poor that we might
be rich, and not have a slender measure of grace : John i. 16, ' Of his
fulness we all receive, and grace for grace.' He was emptied that we
might be filled : Eph. iv. 10, ' He that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things ; ' and
1 Cor. iii. 22, 23, ' All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and
Christ is God's ; ' John x. 10, ' I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly ; ' Titus iii. 5, 6, ' He
saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour.' What may we not promise ourselves from God made man,
made sin, made a curse for us ? Surely a larger and plentiful measure
of the gifts and graces of the Spirit.
[2.] His great love to lost sinners ; for he made himself of no reputa
tion for our sakes. Such was the inconceivable love of our Lord Jesus
Christ to the souls of men, that he was willing to condescend to any
condition for their good and salvation. Some will do a kindness, so
as themselves may not be the worse, nor the poorer, nor disgraced,
nor adventure the displeasure of others ; but Christ hath filled us by
emptying himself, taken our nature, and was subject to misery, out of
love to the salvation of lost sinners. He did willingly lay aside his
glory, which he had with the Father before the world was, to suffer in
his human nature the utmost of misery and grief which the malice of
men and devils could inflict, and which seemed good to the Father to
order and appoint for a satisfaction to provoked justice. Quanta vilior,
tanto charior — Bernard. So much -more vile as Christ was, so much
dearer should he be to us.
2. Let us improve the moral consideration of Christ's being a pattern
and example to us. We feed upon Christ that we may be like him.
Other food is assimilated and changed into our substance, but here we
are changed into it. We who give up our names to Christ must expect
to enjoy the fruits of his obedience in the same steps wherein he walked
before us. If we can condemn the world, be content to be of 'no repu
tation that we may glorify God and finally save our souls, then are we
like Christ. We come to arm ourselves with the same mind which
was in Jesus, to get above the hopes and fears, pains and pleasures,
honours 'and profits, of the present world ; ovSevfteya ; nothing in this
world should be great to us. These things are transitory, soon conveyed
out of sight, the basest and vilest of men are capable of them, the most
generous are above them. Therefore we should be weaning our hearts
more and more from this world, and drawing them off to another world ;
for we profess ourselves to be followers of a poor Saviour.
SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 3.
If any man love God, tlie same is "known of him. — 1 COB. viii. 3.
THE apostle is reasoning in the context against them that abused the
knowledge of their liberty by Christ, to the offence and scandal of others ;
and showeth that we ought to join charity with our knowledge of God.
His arguments are three —
1. Bare knowledge without charity is windy and puffing. The flesh
may serve itself even of the knowledge of divine mysteries, as it giveth
men occasion to be proud and despise others : ' Knowledge puffeth up,
but charity edifieth/ ver. 1.
2. That it is not knowledge unless it be joined with love. Other
wise it is only a talking after others by rote, not the effect of divine
illumination : ver. 2, ' And if any man think that he knoweth anything,
he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.' For the Spirit of light
and life is also a Spirit of love. Bare knowledge sufficeth where the
matter requireth no more ; but Christianity is a practical, effective
knowledge, tending to make us good rather than learned ; and there
fore the profit of our knowledge is lost, it is as no knowledge, unless it
produce love. God never intended a religion to try the sharpness of
men's wits, but to draw their hearts to himself. As God can neither
be loved, obeyed, nor trusted without knowledge, for without know
ledge the heart is not good ; so knowledge is not knowledge unless we
know him so as to love him : John iv. 10, ' If thou knewest the gift of
God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.' Know
him so as to trust in him : Ps. ix. 10, ' They that know thy name will
put their trust in thee.' Know him so as to please him and serve him :
1 John ii. 4, ' He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his com
mandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.'
3. God knoweth such as rightly know him, with a knowledge joined
with love. He knoweth them, that is, doth acknowledge them for his
faithful servants, as will be demonstrated by the effects. So in the
text, ' If any man love God, the same is known of him.'
But in this argument the apostle seemeth to forget his purpose, and
to alter the terms of the dispute in hand ; for instead of charity towards
our neighbour, he puts in love to God ; and instead of our knowledge
of God, he puts in God's knowledge of us ; and so seemeth to be carried
besides his purpose.
I answer — No such matter, for he doth it with good advice.
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3. 135
[1.] Though using our knowledge with charity to our neighbour be
the matter in question, yet loving our neighbour is the fruit of our love to
God, and both these go together : 1 John iv. 20, ' If a man say, I love
God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar ; for he that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not
seen ? ' And they prove one the other: 1 John v. 1,2,' Every one that
loveth him that begat, loveth also him that is begotten of him : by this
we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep
his commandments.' So that it must be expounded thus : If any man
love God, and consequently his neighbour for God's sake. Therefore
the master of the sentences well defined charity thus, Charitas estdilectio,
qua diligitur Deus propter se, et proximus propter Deum, vel in Deo —
it is such a love by which we love God for himself, and our neighbour
for God's sake. We love them either for God's command, or because
of God's image in them, or with respect to his glory, that we may not
offend them, but gain them to God. And so the apostle diverteth not
from his scope, only puts the cause for the effect, love to God as pro
ductive of love to our neighbour.
[2.] Neither is the apostle besides his purpose in the latter clause ;
for God's knowledge of us is the cause of our knowledge of him : John
x. 14, ' I know my sheep, and am known of mine.' First he knoweth
us, and then we know him ; for divine illumination or saving knowledge
is the fruit of his love to the elect ; they are chosen by God, therefore
taught of -God; and he giveth us grace to know, acknowledge, and
love him.
Doct. They that know God so as to love him in sincerity are known
of God.
1. What is this sincere love to God.
2. How God is said to know such.
3. The reasons.
I What is this sincere love to God ?
Here is — (1.) An object ; (2.) An act ; (3.) The qualification of the
act.
First, The object is God, who is considered — (1.) As amiable ;
(2.) As beneficial.
1. God is amiable for the excellency of his nature and glorious
attributes, as infinite wisdom, -goodness, and power. Surely God is to
be loved, not only for the goodness that floweth from him, but for the
goodness that is in himself, as he is a lovely being. I prove it by these
arguments —
[1.] Love is founded in estimation. Now the excellencies of God
are the ground of our esteem, We value nothing but what we account
excellent and glorious. Therefore the essential goodness of his being,
and his moral goodness, or his holiness, have an influence on our love,
as well as his benefits. These things are worthy of esteem in the
creature, and attract our love ; as in the saints : Ps. xvi. 3, ' But to the
saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my
delight ; ' Ps. xv. 4, ' In whose eyes a vile person is contemned, but he
honoureth them that fear the Lord.' Why not in God and his law ?
Ps. cxix. 140, ' Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it.'
[2.] We are not only to bless God, but to praise him : Ps. cxlv. 10,
136 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3.
' All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee.'
Blessing relateth to his benefits, praise to his excellencies. We bless
him for what he is to us, we praise him for what he is in himself. Now,
whether we bless him or praise him, it is still to increase our love to
him and delight in him, for God is not affected with the flattery of
empty praises ; yet this is an especial duty, which is of use to you, as
all other duties are. It doth you good to consider him as an infinite
and eternal being, and of glorious and incomprehensible majesty. It is
pleasant and profitable to us : Ps. cxxxv. 3, ' Praise ye the Lord, for
the Lord is good ; sing praises unto his name, for it is pleasant.'
[3.] A great effect of love is imitation. We imitate what we love
and delight in as good ; we take delight to transcribe it into our own
manners, because we are affected with it : Eph. v. 1, ' Be ye therefore
followers of God, as dear children ; ' in whatever he hath made amiable
and lovely by his example. Love doth imply such a value and esteem
of God, that we count it our happiness to be like him, to be merciful
as he is merciful, and holy as he is holy. We value it as a perfection
in God, and desire the impression of it upon our own hearts. It is the
greatest demonstration of God's love to us to make us like himself : 1
John iii. 2, ' Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be ; but this we know, that when he shall appear,
we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' It is the greatest
demonstration of our love to God, to desire and to endeavour after it :
Ps. xvii. 15, 'As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I
shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness/ Now like him we
must be, not only in benignity, but in holiness and purity.
2. God is beneficial, as he hath been good, or may be good to us.
[1.] In creation. He made us out of nothing, after his own image :
Eccles. xii. 1, ' Kemember thy creator in the days of thy youth.' We
must remember him so as to love him, please him, serve him. Verba
notitice connotant qffectus — Words of knowledge import affection. And
in youth, whilst the prints of his creating bounty are fresh upon us.
In age we carry about the fruits and monuments of our unthankful-
ness, that we have no more improved our time and strength for God.
It is charged on Israel, Deut. xxxii. 15, ' He forsook God which made
him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation.' Many never
think who made them, nor why ; whose creatures are we, who gave us
all that we have ? How can we look upon our bodies without thoughts
of God, whose workmanship it is? or think of the soul without thinking
of God, whose image and superscription it beareth? 'Bender unto
Cassar the things that are Cesar's, and to God the things that are
God's/ Mat. xxiii. 21.
[2.] In redemption. There is the truest representation of the
goodness and benignity of God : 1 John iv. 10, ' Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins;' Rom. v. 8, 'God commendeth his love
towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' God
commendeth his love to us by these wonders of his grace, and set it
before our eyes, that we must either question the truth, or else we
cannot resist the force of this love : 1 John iv. 19, ' We love him
because he first loved us.' God loveth first, best, and most.
SERMON" UPON I COKINTHIANS VIII. 3. 137
[3.] The mercies of daily providence in sustaining our being : Dent,
xxx. 20, ' That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou
mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave to him ; for he is
thy life, and the length of thy days/ How thankful are we to him
that restoreth the use of an eye or of decayed limbs ! Is nothing due to
God, who preserveth all these things to us, yea, continueth life itself,
and defendeth and protecteth us against all dangers ? Ps. xxxi. 23,
' 0 love the Lord, all ye his saints ; for the Lord preserveth the
faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.' Many times, when
they have no friends to uphold them, God standeth by them, to pre
serve them against the powers of oppression. So he heareth prayers :
Ps. cxvi. 1, ' I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my
supplication.' Every answer is a new engagement, and new fuel
to kindle this holy fire. Surely his constant mindfulness of us should
induce us heartily to love God and admire his goodness.
[4.] The rewards of grace which are provided for them that love him,
many blessed comforts and supports here in the world, and the happiness
of the world to come : 1 Cor. ii. 9, ' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him ; ' 1 John iii. 1, 2, ' Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God ! therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew not him. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that when he shall
appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' Thus is God
propounded to us as an object of our love, as amiable and as beneficial.
In short, to have life and being, and all kind of benefits which may
sweeten life ; to be freed from sin, which is the ground of all our trouble,
and the wrath of God, which is so deservedly terrible ; to have our
natures sanctified and healed, and at length to be brought into that
happy estate, when we shall be brought nigh to God, and be made
companions of the holy angels, and for ever behold our glorified
Redeemer ; and our own nature united to the godhead, and have the
greatest and nearest intuition of God that we are capable of, and live
in the fullest love to him and delight in him : what can be said more ?
Secondly, The act, love. Love to God is taken largely or strictly.
1. Largely, for all the duties of the upper hemisphere of religion, or
first table ; as when Christ distinguished the duties of the two tables
into love to God and love to our neighbour : Mat. xxii. 37-39, ' Jesus
said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself.' So it is confounded with faith, repentance,
new obedience ; for all religion is but love acted. Faith is a loving
and thankful acceptance of Christ and his grace. Kepentance is a
mourning love, because of the wrongs done to our beloved, and the loss
accruing to ourselves. Obedience is but pleasing love. A Christian,
if he fear, it is to offend him whom his soul loveth ; if he hope, it is to
see and possess him who is the joy and delight of his soul ; if he rejoice,
it is because he is united to him ; if afflicted, it is because he is
separated from him.
138 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3.
2. More strictly it implieth that particular grace which is distinct
from faith and hope: 1 Cor. xiii. 13, 'And now abideth faith, hope,
charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity.' Which,
because of its various operations, is diversely spoken of in scripture —
(1.) Sometimes as a seeking and desiring love ; (2.) Sometimes as a
complacential and delighting love; (3.) Sometimes as the love of
gratitude or returning love.
[1.] Sometimes it is put in scripture for that which is properly
called a desiring, seeking love, which is our great duty in this life,
because here we are in via, in the way to home, in an estate of imper
fect fruition ; therefore our love mostly venteth itself by desires, or
by an earnest seeking after God. This love is desiderium unionis, a
desire of his presence, or an affection of union. It is often set forth
in scripture : Ps. xlii. 1, ' As the hart panteth after the water-brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God ; ' Ps. Ixiii. 1, ' 0 God, thou art
my God ; early will I seek thee ; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh
longeth for thee.' So Ps. Ixxxiv. 2, ' My soul longeth, yea, even
fainteth for the courts of the Lord ; my heart and my flesh crieth out
for the living God.' It noteth such vehement affections as left an
impression upon the body. So Isa. xxvi. 9, ' With my soul have I
desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek
thee right early.' Thus do the saints express their desires to enjoy
God and his grace. Now —
(1.) This desire is acted towards his sanctifying grace and Spirit,
called an hungering and thirsting after righteousness : Mat. v. 6,
' Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled.' Or the comfort and effect of ordinances and holy
duties, that they may get more of God and holiness into their hearts :
1 Peter ii. 2, ' As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word,
that ye may grow thereby ; ' Ps. Ixxxiv. 2, ' My soul longeth, yea, even
fainteth for the courts of the Lord ; my heart and my flesh crieth out
for the living God/ Not the formality of an ordinance, but ' to see thy
power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary,' Ps.
Ixiii. 2. They would not go from God without him. The sanctifying
Spirit is the sure pledge of God's love ; and they do so earnestly desire
to be like God in purity and holiness, that they are instant and
assiduous in calling upon God, and using all holy means whereby they
may obtain more of his Spirit. This doth show us most of God him
self, for we know his love by his Spirit ; and doth most help us to love
him : Prov. iv. 7, ' Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom,
and with all thy getting, get understanding.' Wealth, honour, and
secular learning, or whatever serveth the interest of the flesh, may be
an hindrance and impediment in the ascending of our hearts and
minds to God. These things often keep us from God, and allure us
to please the flesh ; but saving grace, as it immediately cometh from
God, so it carrieth us to him.
(2.) The perpetual vision of God hereafter : Phil. i. 23, ' I am in a
strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ,
which is far better ; ' 2 Cor. v. 6, 8, ' Knowing that, whilst we are at
home in the body, we are absent from the Lord : we are confident
and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord.' They have a great natural love to the body, and would cot to bp.
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3. 139
unclothed ; but this natural love is overcome by an higher love, the
longings of their soul after the Lord, so that they groan, and wait, and
in the meantime endeavour to make it sure that they shall be accepted
of the Lord into this blessed estate ; all which is comprised in this
desiring and seeking love.
[2.] There is the complacential and delighting love. Divines use to
distinguish of a twofold love — love of benevolence and love of compla
cency. Love of benevolence is desiring the felicity of another; love of com
placency is the pleasedness of the soul in a suitable good. Apply this
to the love of God to us ; he loveth us both these ways. Amore
benevolentice, with a love of benevolence or good- will : John iii. 16,
'God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that
whosoever belie veth him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'
And amore complacentice, with a love of complacency or delight :
Zeph. iii. 17, ' The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty ; he
will save ; he will rejoice over thee with joy ; he will rest in his love ;
he will joy over thee with singing ; ' Prov. xi. 20, ' They that are' of a
fro ward heart are abomination to the Lord, but such as are upright in
their way are his delight ; ' and Prov. xii. 22, ' Lying lips are abomina
tion to the Lord, but they that deal truly are his delight.' But now
the question is whether one or both of these be compatible with our love
to God. With the love of delight, certainly we may and should love
him : Ps. xvi. 6, 7, ' The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places,
yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord, who hath given
me counsel ; my reins also instruct me in the night season.' But as
to the love of benevolence, he is above our injuries and benefits, and
needeth nothing from us to add to his felicity ; unless improperly, when
we desire his glory and the advancement of his kingdom and interest
in the world. But there is no scruple as to the love of complacency :
Ps. xxxvii. 4, ' Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the
desires of thine heart.' There is a joy and pleasure of mind in think
ing of him : Ps. civ. 34, ' My meditation of him shall be sweet ; I will
be glad in the Lord.' Much more in enjoying of him in part here :
Ps. iv. 6, 7, ' Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us :
thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their
corn and their wine increased.' But most of all in our full enjoyment
of him : Ps. xvi. 11, ' Thou wilt show me the path of life ; in thy pre
sence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for ever
more.1 The soul is well pleased in God as an all-sufficient portion.
It is good to observe what puts gladness into our hearts. Joy in heaven
is our everlasting portion ; but there is joy by the way as we are going
thither.
[3.] The returning love, or the love of gratitude or thankfulness : 1
John iv. 19, ' We love him because he first loved us ; ' 2 Cor. v. 14,
' The love of Christ constraineth us ; ' as fire begetteth fire, or as the
echo returneth what it receiveth ; it is a reflection, a reverberation, or a
beating back of God's own beam upon himself. Thus we love God, as
willing to be reconciled to us in Christ, so as we devote ourselves to his
service, will, and honour, to serve him with all our power, and to use
all our mercies for his glory. We consecrate ourselves to him : Rom.
xii. 1, ' I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
140 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3.
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is }Tour reasonable service.' We use ourselves for him : 1 Cor.
vi. 20, ' Ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in your body
and in your spirit, which are God's.'
Thirdly, The qualification of the act, if we sincerely love him. The
sincerity of our love to God is seen in two things — (1.) The eminency
of the degree ; (2.) The genuine and proper effect. Both together dis
cover the sincerity of love.
1. For the degree, God must be loved above all, so as he may have
no rival and competitor in the soul : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in
heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides
thee.' There is a partial half love to God, when a greater love is to
other things. This cannot be consistent with sincerity ; for then religion,
will be an underling, and God's interest least minded. Our Lord telleth
us, Mat. x. 37, ' He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not
worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not
worthy of me.' If anything be nearer and dearer to us than God, and
any advantages we expect from men be preferred before our duty to
him, we are no way fit for Christ's service, or qualified for our duty to
him, because these worldly interests will soon draw us to some unbe
coming practice or action contrary to our fidelity to him. Therefore
the saints are ever liberal in professing how much they value his favour
above all things : Ps. Ixiii. 3, ' Thy loving-kindness is better than life.'
There is nothing so comfortable in this world that we should prefer
before the feeling, or the hope of feeling, of God's love to us.
2. The genuine and proper effect of this love, which is a ready obey
ing of his will, or making it our chief care to please God and keep his
commandments: John xiv. 21, 'He that hath my commandments and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; ' and 1 John v. 3, ' This is the
love of God, that we keep his commandments.' Our love is a love of
duty, as God's love is a love of bounty ; for it is not the love of a supe
rior to an inferior or equal, but like the love of a wife to a husband,
of children to parents, of subjects to their benign lord ; all which rela
tions infer a dutiful subjection on our part.
II. What it is to be known of God.
1. In scripture, it importeth his eternal election before all time :
Horn. viii. 29, ' Whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate ; ' 2
Tim. ii. 19, ' The foundation of the Lord standeth sure, having this seal,
the Lord knoweth them that are his/ God's love made inquisition for
us whilst as yet we lay in the confused heap of nothing, and singled us
out from the rest of the corrupted mass of mankind. And so it may
make a good sense here. Whosoever loveth God is known of God.
He did not prevent God, but God prevented him, knew him, and loved
him long before he knew and loved God.
2. His gracious conversion in time. So God is said to know us
when he calleth us to faith in Christ : Gal. iv. 9, ' But now after that
ye have known God, or rather were known of God ; ' that is, after ye
were converted to Christ, or rather prevented by God. In an uncon
verted estate, God taketh no notice or knowledge of us, so as to be
familiar with us, or communicate any saving blessings to us ; therefore
to be known of God is to receive special mercy from him, as a conse-
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3. 141
quent of our former election. Our sins stopped not the current of his
love and mercy to us ; but he first gave us being, then gave us grace.
He maketh that amiable which he is pleased to set his love upon, and
doth esteem us for what he puts into us : Eph. i. 6, ' To the praise
of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
Beloved,' e^aplrwcrev.
3. His particular notice of them in the course of his providence.
[1.] Before conversion, with respect to his elective love : Jer. i. 5,
' Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou earnest
forth out of the womb I sanctified thee ; ' noting God's eternal desig
nation of him to the office of a prophet, to which he at length called
him. Before he was bred or born, God set him apart for this work,
and had him in mind, and took special notice of him as one to be thus
employed. So God said of Moses, Exod. xxxiii. 12, ' I knew thee by
name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight ; ' in a special and
particular manner. So Gal. i. 15, ' It pleased God, who separated me
from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace.' He dateth God's
care from that time, because the decree began then to take place : this
child is a vessel of mercy, to be employed in an especial manner for
God's glory. Now this is common to all the faithful. Christ 'calleth
his sheep by name/ John x. 3. He knoweth all his flock particularly,
their names and number, by head and poll, even to the meanest of
God's creatures that belong to his election, and seeketh them out in all
the places of their dispersion, and hath a special care of them, that they
may not die in their unregeneracy.
[2.] After conversion God taketh notice of their persons and condi
tions. He hath a special affection to them and care of them : Ps. i.
6, ' The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the
ungodly shall perish ; '- that is, he seeth and beholdeth them with
mercy, he knoweth their persons, and knoweth their necessities and
straits : Mat. vi. 32, ' Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of these things ; ' who wanteth food, raiment, protection, and
deliverance. His business in heaven is to order his providence for their
good : 2 Chron. xvi. 9, ' The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through
out the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose
heart is perfect towards him.' Not always to give them such things
as they desire, but to turn all for good : Kom. viii. 28, ' All things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose.'
4. The intimate familiarity that is between God and them in holy
ordinances, and the whole course of their conversations. They know
God, and God knoweth them, and there is much familiar intercourse
between them : 1 John i. 7, ' If we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.' In holy duties none have
cause to say, ' My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is
passed over from my God,' Isa. xl. 27 ; he doth nothing in my case.
It is a sad thing to come to an empty ordinance. Cain was sensible
of this, and affected with it ; his countenance fell when God testified
not of his gifts : Gen. iv. 6, ' Why art thou wroth ? and why is thy
countenance Mien ? ' God threateneth it, Hosea v. 6, ' They shall
142 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3.
go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they
shall not find him ; he hath withdrawn himself from them.' And
executed it upon Saul : 1 Sam. xxviii. 6, ' And when Saul inquired
of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams nor by
Urim, nor by prophets.' They are the shell of ordinances, but not the
kernel.
5. At the last day they shall be known and owned : Kev. iii. 5, ' He
that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment ; and I
will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his
name before my Father, and before his angels.' Christ will own him,
and present him before God : This is one of mine. Others shall be
discovered,1 how great a name soever they have borne in the church :
Mat. vii. 23, ' I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work ini
quity.' Oh, how sad is that !
III. Seasons.
1. This is like God's knowledge of himself and of us.
[1.] Of himself. God's whole happiness consists in knowing and
loving himself, and having infinite contentment in his own nature.
Surely then our happiness consists in knowing and loving God.
[2.] Of us. The knowledge whereby God knoweth us that we are
his is not a bare and barren knowledge, but accompanied with love,
and care, and blessing. So likewise our knowledge ought to be ; we
must ' know as we are known,' 1 Cor. xiii. 12. In heaven we shall
know him perfectly, and come to a full communion and conjunction
with him ; here in some measure. Thus the scripture compareth God's
knowledge of us with our knowledge of God. God's knowing of us is
operative, never without effect ; therefore our knowledge of him should
be lively, saving, and effectual.
2. This knowledge is like the knowledge of heaven. Faith and im
perfect love here answereth to vision and complete love there. The
sight and love of God is our felicity in heaven, therefore it should be
our business on earth ; for here we do but train up ourselves for a more
perfect estate, and Christ would make our work and reward suit. To
see God and love him is our business now, and it is our happiness here
after. Here we follow the light of faith, there the light of glory. The
understanding must see the truth it believeth, and the will possess the
good it loveth. He that seeketh God is happy, and he that perfectly
loveth him cannot be miserable. There we have no other employment
than to behold and love God. The divine essence would be a torment
to the blessed if the understanding transmitted it not to their will.
3. God rewardeth love with love : Prov. viiL 17, ' I love them that
love me ; ' and John xiv. 21, ' He that loveth me shall be loved of my
Father, and I will love him.' And those whom he loveth he will not
be unmindful of, for he knoweth them.
4. None know God so much as they that love him ; for the affection
sharpeneth judgment. Therefore the pure in heart shall see God :
Mat. v. 8, ' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God ; ' as
being purified from the dregs of sin, and having their minds cleansed.
5. Till we refer all that we know and believe to the true practice of
the love of God, we are not sincere : 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3, ' Though I speak
with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become
1 Qu. ' disowned ' ?— ED.
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3. 143
as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal : and though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though
I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have no charity,
I am nothing : and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth
me nothing.' A man may be burnt in the flames, and yet not at all
acceptable to God ; dive into all mysteries of religion, yet not be affec
ted with them ; cast out devils, yet be cast out among devils ; give his
goods to the poor, yet have his soul full of vainglory ; speak eloquently
and accurately of God and Christ, yet not have his heart subdued to
God. Yet a man cannot have charity and be upon ill terms with
Christ ; all that love him are beloved of him.
Use 1. Is of exhortation, to join with your knowledge of God love to
God.
Motives. 1. From the reward and benefit. Is it not a great mercy
to be known of God, and to be approved in the sentence of his word ?
Gal. v. 6, ' In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision, but faith, which worketh by love.' To be chosen, ac
cepted, and avouched to be his peculiar people : 1 Cor. xvi. 22, ' If any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha ; '
compared with Eph. vi. 24, ' Grace be with all them that love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity.' To be owned in his ordinances ; the great
feast of the gospel is prepared for such : 1 Cor. ii. 9, ' Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him.' To be re
garded in his providence above all the dwellers on earth : Ps. Ivi. 8,
' Thou tellest my wanderings : put thou my tears into thy bottle ; are
they not in thy book ? ' Though they seem base and vile in the eyes
of men, can scarce cleanse themselves, yet they are accepted of God.
Our friends will not know us in adversity, and the rich will not know
the poor; yet God knoweth them and ownet^i them, how despicable
soever they be : Ps. xxxiv. 6, ' This poor man cried, and the Lord heard
him, and saved him out of all his troubles.' God's approbation is more
worth than the approbation of all the world : 2 Cor. x. 18, ' Not he that
commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.'
And at the last day, when every man shall receive his final doom and
sentence, they shall be admitted to glory : James i. 12, ' Blessed is the
man that endureth temptation ; for when he is tried, he shall receive
ohe crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love
him ; ' James ii. 5, ' Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich
in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that
love him ? '
2. From the duty.
[1.] There is no true knowledge else. We do but talk like parrots
of God and Christ, though with never so much subtlety and accuracy,
till we love him : Judges xvi. 15, ' How canst thou say, I love thee,
when thy heart is not with me ? ' Eom. ii. 20, ' An instructor of the
foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge, and of
the truth in the law ;' 2 Tim. iii. 5, ' Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof.'
[2.] The design of the scripture is to teach us the holy art of loving
144 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3.
God. It is a book written of love, wherein is recommended the love of
God to us, in creation, providence, redemption, and final glorification ;
that by hearing, reading, meditating therein, there may be begotten in
us love to God again : 1 Tim. i. 5, ' The end of the commandment is
charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith un
feigned.'
[3.] The love of Christ is the vigour and life of all that grace that
is wrought in us by the Spirit : 2 Tim. i. 7, ' God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.'
[4.] The whole work of a Christian is a work of love, to love God
and be like to him : Deut. x. 12, ' What doth the Lord thy God re
quire of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways,
and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and
all thy soul ? ' A Christian is rewarded as a lover rather than as a ser
vant, not as doing work, but as doing work out of love.
Use 2. Examination. Do we know God so as to love him ? Many
will say, God forbid we should live else, if we do not love God. But
do you indeed love him ? Christ puts Peter to the question thrice :
John xxi. 15-17, ' Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou me more than these ? ' &c. Others, on the other side, will
say, How can we know that we love God ? Burning fire cannot be
hidden ; do what you can, you cannot conceal it. If you really love
any person, there will not need many signs to discern it. No ; you
will betray it on all occasions, by looks, speeches, gestures, thoughts,
and endeavours to please. Or if you love things, will not a covetous
man betray his love of money, an ambitious man his love of honour, a
voluptuous man his delight in pleasures? Let him conceal it if he
can. But it is not love, but the sincerity of love, that is so difficult to
be found out. Well, then, that is known partly by the degree, partly
by the proper effect.
1. By the degree. If you love God, you will love him above all.
All things must give way to his love : Ps. Ixiii. 3, ' Because thy loving
kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.' You will be
content to do and suffer anything rather than displease God' and
lose his favour ; for that is your all. But alas ! how far are we from
the love of God, who are so addicted to self-love and carnal desires, and
governed by the relishes of the flesh, and entangled in earthly and
worldly things ! Can we adhere to him in time of danger and
temptation ?
2. By the proper effect, which is obedience, doing his will, seeking
his glory, promoting his interest. Many think it is love if they keep
solemn feasts in his memory, seem to be very devout at certain set times,
at Christmas and Easter. No ; it is a constant respect in those that
profess his name, and an obedience to his commands. Others think
they love him if they languish after comforts. No ; ready obedience is
all. Then love hath done its work : 1 John ii. 5, ' Whoso keepeth his
word, in him verily is the love of God perfected : hereby know we that
we are in him.'
Use 3. Direction to us in the Lord's supper. Let us rouse up our
selves in this duty, this holy and mystical supper, which Christ, depart
ing out of the world, ordained to be a memorial of his death and passion.
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 3. 145
(1.) Eeasons why we should now express our love ; (2.) How we
should exercise love in this duty.
1- Why.
[1.] Because his death flowed from his love : Gal. ii. 20, ' Who loved
me, and gave himself for me ; ' Eph. v. 2, 'Walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savour ; ' Rev. i. 5, ' Unto him that loved
us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.' And therefore we
never felt the principal effect of this duty unless we find this love
enkindled in us ; we do not observe it as we ought.
[2.] Because his intent is to convey and apply his love to us. It is
applied outwardly by the word and sacraments, inwardly by his Spirit :
Eom. v. 5, ' The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us ; ' John vi. 51, ' And the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' It is
given in pretium, in pabulum, for price and for food. His blood,
which was shed for our redemption, now is poured out for our refec
tion, to cheer our souls, that, eating his flesh and drinking his blood,
we may become one spirit, and he may live in us and we in him, and
that nothing may separate us from his love. All the dainties here set
before us taste and savour of nothing but love. Our meat is seasoned
with love, and our drink is squeezed into our cup out of the wine-press
of love, And God intendeth union : Cant. ii. 4, ' He brought me to
the banqueting-house, and his banner over me was love.' Christ con-
ducteth his spouse in state to the solemn participation of his benefits,
and receiveth her with a banner or canopy. This banner is displayed
in the gospel, the whole doctrine of which is to show us the love of
our Saviour towards mankind. But then in the sacrament we are
brought into the house of wine, we come to taste of the satisfying and
comfortable blessings which are to be found in Christ.
[3.] If we do not bring love with us, we shall not be welcome to God ;
for 'he that loveth God is known of him.' Others are not owned in
an ordinance, but dismissed as they came. God will not fail the
loving soul.
2. How we should exercise love in this duty.
[1.] In ardent desires of Christ's benefits. We can neither live nor
die without him, therefore we must desire his grace, his righteousness,
and Spirit : Luke i. 53, ' He hath filled the hungry with good things ; '
Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek
after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple/
2. In an holy joy and rejoicing in him : Cant. i. 4, ' We will be glad,
and rejoice in thee.' Christ hath a special way of communicating the
sense of his love to a believer. Now when we are admitted to what we
long for, we must express our gratitude.
3. We must not restrain the benefit to the act of receiving ; no, our
future profit is to be regarded, that for the time to come we may live
to no other purpose in the world but to obey and honour Christ, even
at the dearest rates. We must from henceforth live as those that are
the Lord's : 2 Cor. v. 15, 'And that he died for all, that they that live
should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died
for them, and rose again.'
VOL. XVIIL K
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a
door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness. — Ps. Ixxxiv. 10.
IN these words is set forth David's esteem of the ordinances and means
of grace.
Here is (1.) A general proposition, ' A day in thy courts is better
than a thousand ; ' (2.) A particular application to the man of God's
own judgment and sentiment in the case, 'I had rather be a door-keeper
in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness.' The
one sets forth the 'excellency of the thing itself; the other David's, and,
in his person, every godly man's, sense and opinion of it. Things may
incomparably differ, yet every one hath not the eyes to see it. In the
general proposition, the comparison is made with any earthly thing
whatsoever ; in the particular application to David, with the pleasures
of sin. Both must be considered.
In the general proposition, ' A day in thy courts is better than a
thousand ; ' i.e., a day or hour spent in thy worship is better than a
thousand spent among worldlings and about worldly business. Eternal
things, and all things conducing thereunto, must be preferred before
temporal, and communion with God above all the pomp and glory of
the most splendid worldly condition.
But then, in the particular application, temporal things are con
sidered as enjoyed with sin; as also Heb. xi. 25, 'Choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season.' However, there you may observe — (1.) God's worst,
' I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God ; ' (2.) Sin's
best, ' Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.' Where observe —
First, The terms, in which one condition is opposed to the other —
1. On the one side, the meanest, lowest office about God is mentioned,
to be a door-keeper, or, as the Hebrew signifieth, to sit at the threshold ;
a phrase often used to express the office of the Levites, or sons of Korah,
who were keepers of the gates or thresholds of the tabernacle, 1 Chron.
ix. 19, and theEefore called porters, ver. 17. And to these was this psalm
committed ; for the title saith, it was ' A psalm for the sons of Korah ; '
and to encourage them in their office, David useth such an expression.
He had rather be in the meanest condition, wherein he might daily
worship God.
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10. 147
2. On the other side, here was dwelling in the tents of wickedness ;
that is, in the stateliest habitations of the great ones of the world,
wherein wickedness reigneth. Possibly he alludeth to the wild Arabians,
who lived by prey, and lived in tents which were black without and
rich within. Therefore the church is compared to tents of Kedar :
Cant. i. 5, ' I am black, but comely, as the tents of Kedar ; ' as else
where he saith, God is ' more glorious and excellent than the mountains
of prey, ' Ps. Ixxvi. 4 ; preferring God's strength above theirs that dwelt
in the mountains, and lurked there for prey. And this suiteth with
his condition, who, in his exile from the temple, was forced to live as
a wild Kedarene or Ishmaelite : Ps. cxx. 5, ' Woe is me that I sojourn
in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar ; ' meaning the Arabian
tents, the barbarous people of Arabia that were called Scenitae ; for
their manner of living, he then resembled them.
Secondly, Observe how the terms are framed to suit the preference
intended.
1. On the one side, here is sitting at the threshold ; on the other
side, dwelling in the tents. He had distinguished before the travellers
to the house of God and the dwellers in the house of God, ver. 4, &c.
Here a day in God's courts, and a perpetual service in God's house.
The lowest degree and place about God is more honourable for one day,,
though they die the next, as Kimehi, than to have a perpetual abode-
in the tents of wickedness.
2. He calleth the one the house of God, the other but a tent, to show
the stability of their estate who live in communion with God, and the
uncertainty of their happiness who are strangers to him ; they live but
in a tent, a movable habitation.
3. He ealleth the one the 'house of my God/ as challenging an interest
in him ; and so the place of his presence, power, and habitation, being
the more dear to him, as everything that relateth to God is mad©
precious for his sake. But he calleth the other * tents of wickedness.'
There was great wealth, but nothing but profaneness and corruption*.
Well, then, you see that David speaketh as a man that had a mind to-
prefer the one before the other. One day in God's courts ; not in atriis
suis ccelestibtis, in his court of heaven, as some of the ancients would
carry it ; but here in his church. A few hours spent with God were
more than the longest life without him.
Doct. 1. That God's people have a great value and an high esteem
for his Ordinances.
Doct. 2. They do not only value them, but value them and esteem
them above other things.
1. The esteem and value they have for his ordinances simply con
sidered. This is a reason of the context, why there was such longing
desire on his own part, such earnest pressing forward on the people's
part, who came up to worship at Jerusalem : ' For a day in thy
courts," &c.
Keasons of it.
Point 1. Nature, or a spiritual instinct. All creatures naturally
desire to preserve that life which they have ; and therefore, by a natural
propension, run thither from whence they received it. Mere instinct
without instruction carrieth the brute creatures to the teats of their
148 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10.
dams ; and «very effect looketh to the cause, to receive from it its last
perfection. Trees, that receive life from the earth and the sun, send
forth their branches to receive the sun, and spread their roots into the
earth, which brought them forth. Fishes will not live out of the water
that breedeth them. Chickens are no sooner out of the shell but they
shroud themselves under the feathers of the hen by whom they were at
first hatched. The little lamb runneth to the dam's teat, though there
be a thousand sheep of the same wool and colour ; as if it said, Here I
received that which I have, and here will I seek that which I want.
By such a native inbred desire do the saints run to 'God, to seek a
supply of strength and nourishment : 1 Peter ii.2, &>? dpTvyevwrjTa ftpefa,
'As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may
grow thereby.' Young children are not taught to suck ; the young-
born child runneth to the dug, not by instruction, but instinct : James
i. 18, 19, 'Of his own will 'begat he us, by the word of truth, that
we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear.' The same thing
that teacheth the young lambs to suck, or new-born babes to draw the
dug, or the chicken to seek a cherishing under the dam's wing, the
same thing teacheth the children of God to prize the ordinances. The
cause is- inbred appetite, not persuasion and discourse, but inclination.
Grace is called a new nature, which hath an appetite joined with it
after its proper supplies.
2. The next cause of this value and esteem is experience. They find
it so sweet that they long for more : 1 Peter ii. 2, 3, ' As new-born babes
desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby ; if so
be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.' Certainly a man
that hath had any taste of communion with God will desire a fuller
measure ; as by tasting of excellent meats our appetite to them is not
cloyed, but the more provoked. Carnal men do not know what it is to
enjoy God in his ordinances, and therefore they do not long for them ;
they never tasted the sweetness of the word, nor of God's love in Christ.
David says, Ps. xix. 10, ' The statutes of the Lord are more to be
desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than the
honey or the honey-comb/ The children of God find more true
pleasure in the ordinances of God than in all things in the world.
What is the reason that to carnal men they are but as dry chips,
burdensome exercises, melancholy interruptions, but to the other nothing
so sweet, more pleasurable than the richest and choicest sensualities,
that are most eagerly pursued and gustfully enjoyed by us ? The reason
is given in the llth verse, ' Moreover by them is thy servant warned,
and in keeping them there is great reward.' There we come to learn
wisdom against our spiritual dangers, and there we learn the way of
godliness and obedience, which, besides its own sweetness, heapeth
upon us the richest rewards, as having the promises of this life and
that which is to come. He commendeth the word from his own ex
perience. He had felt the effects and good use of it in his own heart ;
he had his broken heart bound up. They find that Christ doth heal
their souls, remove their anguish, sanctify their natures, give them the
promised help in temptations, warn them of sins and snares, relieve
them in distress, bridle their corruptions. So Ps. Ixiii. 1, 2, '0 God,
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10. 149
thou art my God ; early will I seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee,
my flesh longeth for thee ; in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is :
to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen, thee in the sanctuary.'
He that once hath had a sight of God, and a taste of God, would not be
long out of his company. He compareth his desire of communion with
God with hunger and thirst, and maketh it greater than the hunger
and thirst which men suffer in a dry wilderness, where there is no re
freshment to be- had. He had seen God, and would fain see him again ;
the remembrance of the pleasures of the sanctuary revived his desires ;
so that besides nature there is experience.
• 3. There is yet a third cause, and that is necessity. We should
take delight in the means of grace and ordinances of God, though, we
stood in no need of them, because they carry such a suitableness with
the new nature, and because they are- means to exhibit more of God to
us. But our imperfection is great, and this is the only way to get it
supplied. Decays are very incident to us, and how else shall they be
prevented ? 1 The& v. 19, 20, ' Quench not the Spirit ; despise not
prophesying.' Our spiritual vigour is soon quenched, our spiritual
strength soon abated, our spiritual gust and delight soon lost,, if once
we despise ordinances. Every graee, when it is wrought, needeth
support and increase. There is something lacking to faith, and some
thing lacking to love, and something lacking to knowledge ; and if
that which is lacking be not supplied,, we shall lose what is wrought in
us. For it fareth with a man, going to heaven as it doth with a man
rowing against the stream ; if he doth not go forward, he goeth back
ward. Surely they that are acquainted with the spiritual life cannot
live without ordinances. Painted fire Beedeth no fuel, but true fire
will go out unless it be fed and maintained. Wherever there is life,
because of the depastion of the natural heat upon the natural moisture,
though the stomach be never so- full for the present, yet anon they will
be hungry again. So because of the constant combat between the flesh
and the spirit, divine love and carnal concupiscence ; wherever there
is spiritual life, there is a necessity it should be fed with new supplies
of grace, ministered by the ordinances. An hungry conscience must
have satisfaction.
4. Utility and profit. That maketh the children of God value the
ordinances. They get more here in one day than they get in the
world in a thousand. A man may moil in the world all the days of
his life, and what gets he ? Many times his labour for his pains : Ps.
cxxvii. 2, ' It is in vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat
the bread of sorrows.' The Lord doth justly punish the painfulness
of some, who toil like infidels in the use of means, with a sad disap
pointment. They work their hearts out, and nothing cometh of it.
Whereas those who have God's blessing thrive insensibly, and are
very prosperous. But in case they have the world at will, what will it
profit them when they come to die ? Job xxvii. 8, 'What is the hope
of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his
soul ? ' They have a sad bargain of it who have spent all their days
in heaping up wealth, and have hunted for that which they shall never
roast. Or if they wallow in sensual felicity, yet it must be left at
length. But now by the ordinances men get God for their portion ;
150 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10.
and he is an everlasting portion. They are a means to help us to the
fruition of God : Prov. viii. 34, 35, ' Blessed is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors ; for
whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.'
Spiritual wisdom is more than all worldly riches, and to find Christ is
•to find life. Now this is obtained by waiting at his gates, and at the
posts of his doors; that is, by a daily attendance upon the means
of grace.
Point 2. That God's people do not only value and esteem his
ordinances, but they value and esteem them above all worldly things.
We have given you some reasons of their respect to ordinances simply
•considered, now comparatively. For it is not enough to constitute us
religious, that we have some respect for God, his ways, and ordinances,
when we have a greater respect for other things ; to be a little for God
and more for the world. No ; it must be your great business to wait
•upon God, and to redeem time for spiritual uses, counting an. hour
spent with him to be your sweetest time, and the meanest service about
him to be your greatest preferment, and to enjoy his love more than to
enjoy the greatest treasures in the world.
Season I. Worldly things cannot give out so much of God to us as
the ordinances do, and therefore they are incomparably better than any
earthly things whatsoever.
1. They give out more of God for the present than any earthly thing
can. We taste God in the creatures.; they are sanctified to the heirs
of promise : 1 Tim. iv. 4. 5, ' Every creature of 'God is good, and
nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving ; for it is
sanctified by the word of God and prayer/ They are a glass wherein
to see our creator's goodness and wisdom and power. But the creatures,
besides their spiritual use, have a natural use; to maintain the present
life. But the ordinances have wholly a spiritual use. The creatures, and
earthly comforts which we enjoy, do not so immediately tend to the
glory of God ; their immediate use is to comfort man during his pilgrim
age, and to enable him to serve God ; but ultimately and terminatively
they tend to the glory of God. Though man be not to use them merely
for himself, and to sacrifice them to his own will and pleasure, or to
satisfy his own fleshly mind, yet their natural use is for his comfort, and
to enable him to serve God. But there is more of God discovered in
the ordinances than in the creatures, and they do more immediately
tend to God.
2. These are the means of our eternal felicity. Earthly things are
given us as an invitation ; spiritual things as an evidence. Earthly
things are not given us in the first place, but as an additional supply :
Mat. vi. 33, ' Seek ye first the -kingdom of God, and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you ; ' Eccles. vii. 11, ' Wisdom
is good with an inheritance.' Well, then, surely ordinances, if we have
the effect of them, are a more blessed evidence of God's favour : Ps.
Ixv. 4, ' Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach
unto thee, that he may dwell in thy -court ; we shall be satisfied with
the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.' By this means
God pursueth his eternal love, and bringeth us to eternal glory and
blessedness. One beam of the light of God's countenance is more worth
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10. 151
i
than all the world, what then is the eternal enjoyment of God ? Now
the ordinances are a means to this end, to bring us to the everlasting
fruition of God : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ?
and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee/
Reason 2. God is not loved unless he be loved with a trans-
cendant, superlative love ; and this must proportionably descend
upon other things as they relate to God, for everything is good
according to its vicinity and nearness to the chiefest good and last
end. There is a fourfold rank of good things. The first is of that
which is loved and desired only for itself and for no other, and all
other things for its sake ; so God only is good. The second rank is of
those things that are desired for themselves and the sake of some other
thing also ; as knowledge, grace, and virtue. The third rank is of those
good things which are merely desired for some other good's sake ; as
the supplies of the outward life, estate, and the like ; in order to service,
these may be desired. The fourth rank is of those things which are
evil in themselves, and good only by accident, in order to some greater
good which may be procured by them ; as war, to make way for a
lasting quiet and peace ; the cutting off an arm or leg, to preserve the
rest of the body ; burning the harvest to starve an enemy. In a
theological consideration, afflictions have this use, which are not things
to be desired and chosen, but endured and suffered when sent by the
wise God for our good. Well, now, a Christian should love all things
according to their value, and as they approach nearer to his last end
and chief good. He valueth all things as they more or less let out
God to him; the nearer means more than the remote subservient
helps. Thus he delighteth in the ordinances more than the creatures,
because the ordinances discover more of God and exhibit more of God
to him. He valueth graces more than ordinances, because by the
graces of the Spirit he is brought into more conformity to God, and
communion with him, than by the bare formality of a duty. And he
delighteth in Jesus Christ more than in created graces, as being by
him nearer to. God, and God nearer to us. Here is the method and
order of our value and esteem then: first God, next Christ as
mediator, next the graces of the Spirit, next the ordinances, next the
creatures and comforts of this life.
3. A godly man's judgment is rectified about the difference between
things spiritual and temporal : Prov. xxiii. 4, ' Labour not to be rich ;
cease from thine own wisdom ;' 1 Cor. ii. 12, ' We have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know
the things that are freely given to us of God ; ' Ps. xvi. 7, ' I will bless
the Lord, who hath given me counsel ; my reins also instruct me in
the night season.' He counteth that condition best wherein he may
be most serviceable to God, and best helped to heaven. The natural
understanding valueth all things by the interest of the flesh, for it
looketh only to present things ; it is the spirit of the world. But one
to whom God hath given counsel, he is of another temper, seeth things
by another light, and liveth to another end and scope. His end en-
lighteneth him, and the Spirit of God enlighteneth him. The Spirit
showeth him the reality and worth of heavenly things : Eph. i. 17, 18,
1 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
152 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10.
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,
the eyes of your understandingbeing enlightened, that ye may know what
is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheri
tance in the saints/ There is no prospect of the other world by the
light of a natural spirit, but by faith : 2 Peter i. 9, ' He that lacketh
these things is blind, and cannot see afar off.' A mere natural man
acteth at little higher rate than a beast. A beast seeth things before
him, tastes what is comfortable to his senses, is guided by fancy and
appetite ; but the spirit of faith maketh a man live as in the sight of
God, and under a sense of another world. His end enlighteneth him ;
for, Mat. vi. 22, ' The light of the body is the eye ; if thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.' When a man hath fixed his
end, he will the sooner understand his way. Finis est mensura mediorum
— The end is the measure of the means. A good end and scope en
lighteneth and governeth a man in his whole course. As a man's end
is, so he judgeth of happiness and misery. If a man's end be to live
well in the world, then ' happy are the people that are in such a case.'
If his end be to enjoy God, then ' happy is the people whose God is
the Lord,' Ps. cxliv. 15. It is a blessed opportunity to be waiting upon
him. So he judgeth of liberty and bondage. If his end be to please
God, then corruption is his yoke ; if to please the flesh, duty is his
yoke. So he judgeth of wisdom and folly. A carnal man counteth
himself wise when he has made a good bargain ; then he applaudeth
himself : Ps. x. 3, ' The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and bless-
eth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth/ The godly man then
counteth himself wise, when he has redeemed time for spiritual uses :
Eph. v. 15, 16, ' Not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because
the days are evil.' And the eunuch, when he was instructed by Philip,
' went on his way rejoicing,' Acts viii. 39.
Use 1. If these things be so, then it informeth us how cheerfully
we should pass through our sabbath duties: Isa. Iviii. 13, 'If thou
turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my
holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honour
able, and shalt honour him, not doing thine own work, not finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words/ &c. It followeth
naturally from the point in hand ; for if a day in God's house be better
than a thousand elsewhere, then a Christian should be in his element
when he is wholly at leisure for God. His sabbath time should not
hang upon his hands, nor should he count this day as a melancholy inter
ruption. Few are of this spirit ; they are out of their course : Amos viii.
5, 'When will the sabbath be gone, that we may set forth wheat?'
They are weary of sacred meetings, and long to have them over, that
they might follow their gain, and satisfy their worldly humour. They
make the world and their gain their great errand, and look upon
attendance upon God as a matter by the by, and therefore are soon
weary of it.
Use 2. Let us reflect the light of this truth upon our own hearts.
Have we this love and affection to the means of grace ? If we profess
it, the truth of it is best known to God; but in some measure it
should be known to ourselves also, if we would take comfort in it.
Therefore let us a little state it.
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10. 153
1. This affection and respect to ordinances is to them as pure;
to those meetings where God is sincerely and purely worshipped,
'As new-born babes desire \o<yiKov aSo\,ov <yd\a, the sincere milk
of the word/ 1 Peter ii. 2. The new nature is suited to God's
institutions. As the puking infant, when he sucketh a stranger, doth
in effect say, This is not my mother's milk. Christ is there where he is
worshipped in his own way : Mat. xxviii. 20, ' Teaching them all
things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world.' The church hath nothing to
do about ordaining or instituting, but only about ordering the natural
circumstances of worship.
2. It is not the empty formality which the saints prize, but meeting
with God : Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, 2, ' How amiable are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord
of hosts ! my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord ;
my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.' The profane
blind world neither careth for the duty, nor for God in the duty; the
formal hypocritical part of the world is for the outward duty, and rests
satisfied with the bare ordinance, but the sincere Christian would meet
with God there. They do not only serve him, but seek him, to find God
in the means, and his lively operation upon their hearts ; and therefore
they would not go from him without him : Gen. xxxii. 26, ' I will not
let thee go except thou bless me/ They must have somewhat of God ;
this is what they long for, some new warmth, and comfort, and
quickening.
3. Those ordinances are prized where many of the servants of God
meet together. It is comfortable to enjoy God in secret, such duties
are rewarded with an open blessing : Mat. vi. 6, ' But thou, when thou
prayest, enter into thy closet, and shut thy door, and pray unto thy
Father which is in secret, and thy Father, which seeth in secret, will re
ward thee openly.' But here it is God's court. David could thus enjoy
God in the wilderness : Ps. xlii. 4, ' I had gone with the multitude ; I
went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise,
with the multitude that kept holy-day.' It is a comfort certainly to
meet with our everlasting companions, joining in concert with them, and
beginning our everlasting work. God's people have but one spirit, one
divine nature; are led by the same principles, rules, and ends ; have
the same hopes, desires, and joys : to have multitudes of these joining
with us in lifting up the same God, in the same solemn worship, pray
ing together, hearing together, sitting down at the same table, and
glorifying the same God and Father with the same heart and mouth :
Acts i. 14, ' These all continued with one accord in prayer and suppli
cation;' Ps. xxii. 22, 'In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee;'
and ver. 25, ' My praise shall be of thee in 'the great congregation ; I
will pay my vows before them that fear him.'
4. It must be to the ordinances, though under reproach, disgrace,
persecution : Heb. xi. 26, ' Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt/ Though the service of God
expose us to the lowest and most painful condition of life, as a door
keeper, if joined with any measure of communion with God : 2 Sam.
vi. 22, ' I will be yet more vile than thus.' It is better to suffer afflic
tion with the people of God, than to enjoy the most easy, sumptuous,
154 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 10.
and plentiful condition of life with wicked men. Few are content to
serve a poor Christ.
5. It is a constant affection, not for a pang. Herod ^Sew? tftcova-e
' Heard John Baptist gladly/ Mark vi. 20 ; and John v. 35, ' He was
a burning and a shining light, and ye were willing for a season to
rejoice in his light ; ' for a season, while ordinances are novel things,
or during some qualm of conscience ; but it is from a constant inbred
appetite, common to all the saints.
6. This value and esteem must vent itself by a strong desire : Ps.
xlii. 1, 2, 'As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God :
when shall I come and appear before God ? ' The lively believer
doth earnestly, and above all other things, seek after communion with
God : Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I
seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of
my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.'
There were other things which David might desire, but this one thing
was his heart set upon, that he might live in constant communion with
God. Not to be settled in his regal throne, which he sought not yet
to be, but to enjoy that transcendant pleasure of conversing daily and
frequently with God ; and the spirit worketh uniformly in the saints.
7. The end of our attendance on ordinances must be God's glory and
our own profit. God's glory : Ps. xxvii. 4, ' To behold the beauty of God.'
God is infinitely worthy of all honour and praise from his creatures ;
love to God hath an influence on it : Ps. xxvi. 8, ' Lord, I have loved
the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.'
Our profit : 1 Peter ii. 2, ' As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of
the word, that ye may grow thereby ; ' that we may have some increase
of light and life : Ps. Ixxxiv. 7, ' They go from strength to strength ;
every one in Sion appeareth before God.'
SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX 10.
SEKMON I.
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
LUKE xix. 10.
THIS is given as a reason why Christ came to invite himself to Zaccheus*
house, who was a publican. We find, ver. 7, ' The people murmured,
saying, That he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner.'
Christ defendeth his practice by his commission, or the errand for which
he came into the world, ' For the Son of man/ &c.
In which words —
1. The person, or the character by which he was described, ' The Son
of man.' Christ is called so, not to deny his godhead, but to express
the verity of his human nature, and that he was of our stock and lineage.
He might have been a true man though he had not come of Adam, but
his human nature had been framed out of the dust of the ground, as
Adam's was, or created out of nothing : ' But he that sanctifieth and
they that are sanctified are of one ; for which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren/ Heb. i>i. 11. He would be of the mass and stock
with us.
2. His work, ' He is come to seek and to save.' The first word, ' to
seek/ showeth his diligence ; he leaveth no place unsought where his
hidden ones are. The second word, 'to save/ showeth his sufficiency
of merit and power ; both show his kindness and good- will to mankind,
to recover us out of our lapsed estate.
3. The object of this grace and favour, 'That which was lost.' The
object of Christ's salvation is man lost and undone.
Doct. That the great end and business of Christ's coming is to seek
and save that which is lost.
Here I shall inquire two things by way of explication. —
1. In what sense we are said to be lost.
2. How Christ 'Cometh to seek and save such.
I. In what sense we are said to be lost ; two ways, really and indeed,
or in our own sense and apprehension.
1. Keally and indeed ; so we are lost to God and lost to ourselves.
As to God, he hath no glory, love, and service from tas, and so is de
prived and robbed of the honour of his creation. The father in the
parable, by whom God is resembled, saith, Luke xv. 24, ' This my son
was lost and is found.' Lost as to themselves, so they are said to be
lost, as they are out of the way to true happiness, and as they are in the
156 SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10.
way to everlasting destruction. In the former respect we are compared
to lost sheep, who when they are once out of the way, know not how to
find it again : Ps. xiv. 3, ' They are all gone aside ; ' and Isa. liii. 6,
'All we like sheep have gone astray.' Swine and other creatures, if they
wander all day, will easily find the way home again ; but we are gone
astray like sheep. Domine, errare per me potui, redire non polui —
Lord, I have wandered of myself, but I cannot return of myself. In
the second respect, as they are in the way to destruction ; so we are
compared to the lost son, who undid himself, and wasted his substance
with riotous living, Luke xv. 13. So we are lost by reason of original
sin, or the corruption introduced by Adam's first sin, hereditarily
derived to us from our first parents : Ps. li. 5, ' Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.' And also by
reason of actual sins, whereby we involve ourselves more and more in
the wrath and curse of God : Eph. ii. 1, 2, ' And you hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins ; wherein in times past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of dis
obedience ; and ver. 3, ' We were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others.' Take one distinction more ; some are lost totally, and
others totally and finally too. All men in their natural estate, whether
they be sensible or insensible of it, are lost totally : Isa. liii. 6, ' All
we like sheep have gone astray,' not one exeepted L the elect, though
for the present they are totally lost, yet they are not finally lost. But
those that still continue in their impenitency and unbelief are both
totally and finally lost, justly given over and designed to everlasting
perdition and destruction. In which sense Judas is called the son of
perdition : John xvii. 12, ' Those which thou hast given me, I have
kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.' Unbelief per
sisted in is a sign of perdition*. Therefore the apostle saith, 2 Cor. iv.
3, ' If our gospel be hid, it is hid to those that are lost.' Well, then,
such as refuse the gospel are in an actual state of perdition, and while
they continue to repel and refuse the benefit of the gospel, there is no
hope of them. Thus we are really and indeed lost.
2. Some are lost and undone in their own sense and feeling. All by
reason of sin are in a lost state,, but some are apprehensive of it ; when
the soul is made sensible of its utter perishing condition, and fear of its
aggravated punishment by reason of actual sin \ as the lost son appre
hended his perishing for want of bread : Luke xv. 17, 'And when he
came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have
bread enough, and to spare, and I perish with hunger I ' Thus would
Christ represent the sensible sinner, that is apprehensive of his con
dition. Now such a sense is necessary to prepare us for a more broken
hearted and thankful acceptance of the grace of the gospel.
S..] Because the scripture speaketh of an awakening before conversion:
. v. 14, ' Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee light.' While we are asleep, we are neither sen
sible of our misery, nor care for our remedy, but please ourselves with
dreams and fancies ; but when a man's conscience doth rouse him up
out of the sleep of sin, and awaken him to some sight and sense of his
miserable condition, he is in a good measure prepared to hearken to the
SERMOKS UPON LUKE XIX. 10. 157
offers of the gospel, and to be affected with and entertain the grace of
Christ : so Ps. xxii. 27, ' All the nations of the earth shall remember
and' turn to the Lord ; ' first remember, then turn. They are like men
sleeping and distracted before ; they do not consider whence they are,
what they are doing, whither they are going, what shall become of them
to all eternity.
[2.] Till we are sensible of our lost estate, we have not that trouble
for sin, that hunger and thirst for grace, which the scripture express-
eth everywhere in the calls and invitations of the gospel : as Mat. ix.
12, 13, ' The whole need not the physician, but they that are sick : I
came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance ; ' and Mat. xi.
28, ' Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will
give you rest ; ' Isa. Iv. 1, ' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to
the waters ; ' Heb. vi. 18, ' Who have fled for refuge, to lay hold of
the hope set before us. ' They that are heart-whole will not value the
spiritual physician, neither will they that feel not their load care for
offers of ease. None will prize bread but the hungry, nor come to the
waters but the thirsty, nor make haste to the city of refuge but those
that see an avenger of blood at their heels. Or to divest these things
of their metaphor ; sin unseen grieveth not ; that which the eye seeth
not the heart rueth not ; it is the hungry conscience that cannot be
satisfied without Christ's renewing and reconciling grace ; it is the
curse driveth us to the promise, and the tribunal of God's justice to the
throne of grace ; one covenant to another^ None do with such sighs
and groans mourn and wait in the use of means till they obtain mercy
as those who have a sight and sense of their lost estate, or their sad and
miserable case by nature.
[3.] It appeareth by the types, the deliverance of the children of Israel
out of Egypt and. Babylon, which figured our restoration by Christ.
Now God would not deliver his people out of Egypt till they sighed
and groaned out of the anguish of their spirits for their cruel bondage :
Exod. iii. 7, ' I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are
in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters, for
I know their sorrows.' So God delivered them not out of their captivity
of Babylon till they were sensible of their being ready to perish under
it : Ezek. xxxvii. 11, ' Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our
hope is lost ; we are cut off for our parts.' Now the great truth figured
hereby is our perishing condition under the captivity of sin before the
Spirit of life entereth into us.
[4.] By experience it appeareth that Christ is not valued, nor his
grace so highly prized, till men have a sensible awakening knowledge
of their own misery and lost estate by reason of sin. When sin is sin
indeed, then grace is grace indeed and Christ is Christ indeed. If men,
have a superficial sense of sin, they have a superficial faith in Christ.
The slight person doth the work of an age in a breath. We are all
sinners, but God is merciful. Christ died for sinners, and there is an
end both of their law and gospel work. If men have a doctrinal and
speculative knowledge of sin, they have also a doctrinal opinionative
faith in Christ. Always according to our sense of the disease so is our
carriage about the cure and remedy. It must needs be so, for God
by the one will advance the other, ' that where sin aboundeth, grace
158 SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10.
might much more abound,' Kom. v. 26 ; that is, rather in our sense
and feeling than in our practice ; so that one wounded for sin will
more earnestly look after a cure. Others may dispute for the gospel,
but they feel not the comfort of it. Well, then, I have proved to you
that every man is in a lost condition, sensible or insensible of it, and
that we ought to have a deep sense of this upon our hearts, to count
ourselves lost and undone, that we may be more prepared and fitted to
entertain the offers and calls of the gospel, and prize our Kedeemer's
grace.
II. In what sense Christ is said to seek and save such. Here is a
double work — seeking and saving.
1. What is his seeking ? It implieth —
[1.] His pity to us in our lost estate, and providing means for us, in
that he doth not leave us to our wanderings, or our own heart's counsels,
but taketh care that we be brought back again to God: John x. 16,
' Other sheep have I, which are not of this fold ; them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice.' It is spoken of his care to bring
in his own among the gentiles ; he will in due time convert and bring
in all that belong to the election of grace. Christ hath not only a
care of those that are already brought in, but of those who are yet to
be brought in ; they are his sheep, though yet unconverted, in respect
of his eternal purpose ; and his heart is upon them, when they little
think of him, and his love to them. So the Lord Jesus appeared in
the vision to Paul : Acts xviii. 10, ' Fear not, I am with thee, and no
man shall set on thee to hurt thee ; for I have much people in this city.'
He doth not say, There are much people, Corinth was a populous city,
and it is good casting out the net where there are store of fish ; but, /
have much people. It is not meant of those Corinthians that were
already converted to God, for at that time there were few or none, for
all those at Corinth that were converted were converted by Paul : 1
Cor. iv. 15, ' Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet
have ye not many fathers ; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you
through the gospel.' Or if some few were already converted, Paul was
not afraid of them. But there are much people, viz., who were elected
by God, redeemed by Christ, though yet wallowing in their sins ; such
as these he findeth out in their wanderings.
[2.] His seeking implieth his diligence and pains to reduce them :
Luke xv. 4, ' What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose
one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and
seeketh after that which was lost till he find it?' It requireth time
and pains to find them, and gain their consent. A lost soul is not so
easily recovered and reduced from his straying ; there is many a warn
ing slighted, many a conviction smothered, and tenders of grace made
in vain, till they are taken in their month : Isa. Ixv. 2, ' I have spread
out my hands all the day long unto a rebellious people,' as requiring
audience.
I evidence this two ways —
(1.) Christ is said to seek after us by his word and Spirit.
(1st.) By his word, he cometh as a teacher from heaven, to recall
sinners from their wanderings. At first he came in person : ' I am not
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,' Mat. ix. 13.
SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10. 159
Besides his giving repentance as prince and lord of the renewed estate,
or dispenser of the grace of the gospel, there is his calling to repent
ance ; and Christ was very painful in it, going up and down, and seek
ing all occasions to bring home poor creatures to God. Thus he was
now calling home to God Zaccheus, a publican ; so the woman of
Samaria, when he was faint and hungry, John iv. 34, he telleth her
his 'meat was to do the will of him that sent him, and to finish his work/
To seek and save lost souls was meat and drink to Christ. So still
he doth send ministers, giving them gifts, and inspiring them with a
zeal for God's glory and compassion over souls, that ' with all meekness
they may instruct those that oppose themselves, if peradventure God
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth,' &c., 2
Tim. ii. 25, 26. Now these are to be ' instant in season and out of
season,' 2 Tim. iv. 2 ; as the woman lighted a candle to seek her lost
groat, Luke xv. 8. So Christ causeth the candlestick of the church
to be furnished with burning and shining lights, men of prudence, zeal,
and holiness, and compassion over souls, that he may at length gain on
a people. And indeed Christ never lights a candle but he hath some
lost groat to seek.
(2d.) By his Spirit striving against and overcoming the obstinacy
and contradiction of our souls. By his call in the word he inviteth us
to holiness, but by his powerful grace he inclineth us. Man is averse
from God ; he resists not only external offers, but internal motions, till
by his invincible grace he changeth our hearts, and so in the day of his
power we become a willing people : Ps. ex. 3, ' Thy people are willing
in the day of thy power.' It is the good shepherd that bringeth home
the sheep upon his own shoulders rejoicing, Luke xv. 5.
(2.) This seeking is absolutely necessary ; if he did not seek them,
they would never seek him. It is our great duty to seek after God ;
the scripture calleth for it everywhere : Isa. Iv. 6, ' Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.' By the
motions of his Spirit he urgeth us thereunto : Ps. xxvii. 8, ' When thou
saidst, Seek ye my face.' The course of his providence inviteth us ; both
afflictions : Hosea v. 15, ' In their afflictions they will seek me early ; '
and mercies : Acts xvii. 27, 28, ' That they should seek the Lord, if
haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far
from every one of us : for in him we live and move, and have our being/
And his people are described to be a generation of them that seek him,
Ps. xxiv. 6. Yet if Christ had not by his preventing grace sought us,
we could never seek after him : Isa. Ixv. 1, ' I am found of them that
sought me not.' I prevented their seeking of me, by sending and seek
ing after mine own first. Christ beginneth with us first : 1 John iv. 19,
' We love him, because he first loved us.' He chooseth us before we
choose him : John xv. 16, ' Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen
you/ He seeketh us first before we seek him ; for we are fugitives and
exiles, our hearts are averse from God, and there is a legal exclusion in
the way. Sweetly Bernard to this purpose, Nemo te qucerere potest,
nisi qui prius invenerit ; vis inveniri ut quceraris, quceri ut inveniaris ;
potes quidem inveniri, non tamen prceveniri. God will be sought
that he may be found, and found that he may be sought. We cannot
seek him till we find him ; we may return to him, but we cannot
160 SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10.
prevent him ; for he pitied our misery, and sought us, when we had
neither mind nor heart to seek him.
2. To save them. Two ways is Christ a saviour — merito et
efficacia, by merit and by power. We are sometimes said to be
saved by his death, and sometimes to be saved by his life : Eom. v. 10,
' If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.'
There is the merit of his humiliation, and the efficacy and power of his
exaltation. He procureth salvation for us by his meritorious satisfac
tion, and then applieth it to us by his effectual and invincible power.
Here I shall do two things — (1.) I shall show why it is so ; (2.) I
shall prove that this was Christ's great end and business.
First, Why it is so.
1. With respect to the parties concerned. In saving lost crea
tures, Christ hath to do with three parties — God, man, and Satan.
[1.] With God. God's wrath was to be pacified by the blood of his
cross : Col. i. 20, ' Having made peace through the blood of his cross,
by him to reconcile all things to himself.' His blood was to be shed
on earth, and represented and pleaded in heaven. Now thus he came
to save us, that is, to die for us, and give his life a ransom for many
here upon earth : Mat. xx. 28, x The Son of man is come not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for
many.' In heaven it is represented: Heb. ix. 24, 'For Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of
the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us.'
[2.] The next party is man, who is to be saved, who is guilty and
unholy. His guilt is removed by Christ's substituting himself in man's
stead, and bearing his sins. But man by a foolish obstinacy is apt to
turn the back upon his own mercies, so that there needeth the efficacy
of the Spirit of Christ to gain his consent, as well as the merit and
mediatorial sacrifice of Christ to reconcile him to God. We are so
prepossessed with a false happiness, and biassed by sinful inclinations,
so indisposed for the waiting for and receiving of the offered mercy in
that humble and submissive way wherein God will dispense it, that
unless Christ save us by a strong hand we are not likely to be the
better for the tender of the gospel to us : John vi. 44, ' No man can
come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him ; ' and
ver. 65, ' No man can come to me, except it were given him of my
Father ; ' and John v. 40, ' Ye will not come unto me that you might have
life.' So that as we are deservedly cut off by the law, so also we are
become morally impotent, and averse to the undeserved, free, and
gracious tenders of the gospel ; and having wilfully pulled upon our
selves just misery, we do obstinately reject free niercy tendered to us
upon the terms of the gospel. We are lost before, unless Christ satisfy
the old covenant, and we are lost again, unless he qualify us for the
privileges of the gospel. And as the gospel transcends the law, so our
disobedience to the gospel doth so far exceed in evil our disobedience
to the law ; so that We are doubly lost, utterly lost, unless Christ help
us.
[3.] With Satan, who is a tempter and an accuser ; as an accuser
SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10. 161
not a whisperer, but KaTfaopos, ' accuser ; ' Kev. xii. 10, ' For the
accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accused them before God
day and night.' And avriSiKcx; an ' adversary ; ' 1 Peter v. 8, ' Because
your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking
whom he may devour.' As a tempter, by the baits of the world he
doth solicit and entice our flesh to a rebellion against God; his
assaults are daily and assiduous, and the baits presented are pleasing
to our flesh. So that to begin an interest for God, or to keep it alive,
and maintain it in ourselves, the divine power is necessary. As to
begin it : Col. i. 13, 'Who hath delivered us from the power of dark
ness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son ; ' Luke xi. 21,
22, ' When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in
peace ; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and over
come him, he taketh from him all his armour, wherein he trusted, and
divideth the spoil.' So to maintain and keep it still alive : 1 Peter i. 5,
' Who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation ;
1 John iv. 4, ' Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them,
because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.'
Nothing else, nothing less, can do it than the power of Christ.
2. With respect to the parts of salvation. There is redemption and
conversion, the one by way of impetration, the other by way of appli
cation. It is not enough that we are redeemed, that is done without
us upon the cross ; but we must also be converted, that is real redemp
tion applied to us. We must again recover God s favour and image ;
his image was first lost, and then his favour : so is our recovery ; first
we recover his image : Titus iii. 5, ' He hath saved us by the washing
of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost ; ' that is, put us
into the way of salvation. Sanctification is 'spoken of as a principal
branch of our salvation : Mat. i. 21, ' Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins ; ' he hath his name and
office for that use. And then, recovering the image of God, we also
recover his favour, are adopted into his family, are justified and freed
from the guilt of sin : Eph. ii. 8, ' By grace ye are saved, through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.'
3. With respect to eternal salvation, which is the result of all, that
is to say, it is the effect of Christ's merit and of our regeneration ; for
in regeneration that life is begun in us which is perfected in heaven.
With respect to our justification, for thereby the sentence of death is
taken off, and he that is justified ' shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death to life,' John v. 24. Yea, our sanctification is
acted in obedience performed upon the encouragements and hopes of
gospel grace, before we are capable of eternal happiness ; for the apostle
telleth us, Heb. v. 9, that Christ is 'become the author of eternal salva
tion to them that obey him/ He bringeth us at length to live in those
eternal mansions which he hath prepared for us. This is the salvation,
from whence Christ is chiefly denominated our Saviour, and that which
we are to endeavour and look after throughout our whole life.
VOL. XVIII.
162 SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10.
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost
LUKE xix. 10.
SECONDLY, I am to prove that this was Christ's great end and business.
1. It is certain that Christ was sent to man in a lapsed and fallen
estate, not to preserve us as innocent, but to recover us as fallen. The
good angels are preserved and confirmed in their first estate, they are
kept from perishing and being lost. And so would Adam have been
saved, if God had kept him still in a state of innocency ; but our salva
tion is a recovery and restoration, being lost and undone by the fall :
Horn. iii. 23, ' For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ; '
that is, lost the perfection of our nature and the consequent privileges.
2. Out of this misery man is unable to deliver and recover himself.
Not able to reconcile or propitiate God to himself, by giving a suffi
cient ransom to provoked justice : Ps. xlix. 8, 'For the redemption of
the soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever ; ' that is, if it should lie
upon our hands. And man cannot change his own heart : 'Who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? Not one,' Job xiv. 4. There
is no sound part left in us to mend the rest, this is a work for the
spiritual physician. We have need of a saviour to help us to repent
ance, as well as to help us to pardon.
3. We being utterly unable, God, in pity to us, that the creation of
man for his glory might not be frustrated, hath sent us Christ. First,
he was from the love of God predestinated to this end from all eternity,
to remedy our lapsed estate : John iii. 16, * God so loved the world, that
he sent his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life/ He was from all eternity appointed
by the Father to save sinners. Secondly, he was spoken of and pro
mised for this end in paradise, presently after the fall : Gen. iii. 15, ' The
seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.' Thirdly, he was
shadowed forth in the sacrifices and the other figures of the law ;
therefore said to be ' the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,'
Eev. xiii. 8. Fourthly, he was prophesied of by the prophets, as one
that should ' make his soul an offering for sin,' Isa. liii. 10 ; as the
anointed one that should ' be cut off, not for himself, but to make an end
of sins, and make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness,' Dan. ix. 27-29. Fifthly, he was waited for by all the
faithful, before his coming, as the consolation of Israel : Luke ii. 25,
' And behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon,
and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of
Israel; ' John viii. 56, 'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day,
and he saw it, and was glad ; ' 1 Peter i. 10, ' Of which salvation the
prophets have inquired, and searched diligently, who prophesied of the
grace that should come unto you.' Sixthly, in the fulness of time the
Son of man came, not at first to judge or sentence any, but to save the
lost world : Luke ix. 56, ' For the Son of man is not come to destroy
men's lives, but to save them ; ' John iii. 17, ' God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might
SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10. 163
be saved.' The errand of his first coming was to offer salvation to the
lost world, and not only to offer it, but to purchase it for them : John
xii.'47, 'I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.' All
these places show that at his first coming he laid aside the quality of
a judge, and took the office of a saviour and a mediator ; as a prophet,
to reveal the way of salvation ; as a priest, to procure it for us by the
merit of his sacrifice ; as a king, powerfully to bring us to the enjoy
ment of it. He did not come down to punish the ungodly world ; as
Gen. xviii. 21, ' I will go down now and see whether they have done
altogether according to the cry of it which is come up unto me ; ' and
so to put an end to transgression. But he would come with an offer of
peace and salvation, and during this whole dispensation leaves room
for faith and repentance. Seventhly, when he was upon earth, you
find him conversing with sinners, as the physician with the sick, to heal
their souls ; and when the pharisees excepted against this familiarity,
as if it were against decency that so great a prophet should converse
with the poorest and worst, he showeth it was needful for their cure.
When they objected, Luke xv. 2, 'This man receiveth sinners, and
eateth with them,' he defendeth himself by the parable of the lost sheep,
and lost groat, and lost son. So here, when they murmur at him
for being Zaccheus' guest, he pleadeth his commission and great errand
into the world. So when a woman that was a sinner washed his feet with
her tears, he preferreth her before Simon a pharisee, Luke vii. 44-47.
He pleadeth his being a physician of souls when he sat at meat with
Matthew a publican, Mat. ix. 12. So those that would have the adul
teress stoned, he said to them, John viii. 7, ' He that is without sin
among you, let him cast the first stone at her.' He spake many par
ables against those that were conceited of their righteousness and de
spised sinners, Luke xviii. 9 ; the parable of the two sons, Mat. xxi.
28-31. Now all these show that his great work was to bring lost sinners
to repentance, that they might be saved. Eighthly, after he had offered
himself through the eternal Spirit, that he might purge our consciences
from dead works, he went to heaven, and sat down at the right hand
of God, that he might powerfully apply his salvation. Therefore it is
said, Acts v. 31, ' Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a
Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of
sins.' So that still he is upon the saving dispensation till he come to
judgment ; then all are in termino, in their final estate, where they
shall remain for ever. Ninthly, the ministry and gospel was appointed
to give notice of this : 1 John iv. 14, ' And we have seen, and do tes
tify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.' Well,
then, if Christ had not been willing to save us, he would never have
laid down his life to open a way for our salvation, nor would he have
sent his ambassadors to pray and beseech us to accept of his help.
Use 1. Information.
1. How contrary to the temper of Christ they are who are careless
of souls. We should learn of Christ to be diligent and industrious, to
reduce the meanest person upon earth that is in a course of any danger
of ruin to the soul. Surely this care of seeking and searching out and
reducing sinners to repentance should be imitated of all. These words
are spoken by Christ upon another occasion, why his little ones should
164 SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10.
not be despised : Mat. xviii. 11, ' For the Son of man is come to save
that which was lost.' He came to redeem the meanest believer. Now
his little ones are despised by laying stumbling-blocks in their way, or
neglecting the means by which they may be reduced to God, as if their
souls were not worth the looking after. Hath the minister no poor
ignorant creature to instruct ? or the father of the family no children
or servants to bring home to God ? Or the good Christian no brothers,
nor sisters, nor neighbours, who walk in a soul-destroying course ? How
can we think ourselves to belong to Christ when we are so unlike him ?
Oh ! seek and save that which is lost; do what you can to pluck them out
of the fire ; they are lost and undone for ever if they continue in their
carnal and flesh-pleasing course. Be they never so mean, you must
seek to save them, for you must not have the faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ in respect of persons.
2. How much they obstruct the end of Christ's coming who hinder
the salvation of lost souls, either by depriving them of the means of
grace, as the pharisees, who ' would neither enter into the kingdom of
God themselves, nor suffer them that were entering to go in/ Mat. xxiii.
13 ; but seek all means to divert them ; or else by clogging his grace
with unnecessary conditions or preparations, and so shut up the way
to the city of refuge, which was to be smoothed or made plain, Deut.
xix. 2, 3, that nothing might hinder him that fled thither, no stop, nor
stumbling-block, no hill, nor dale, nor river without convenient passage.
It is enough they are sensible that they are lost creatures. And it is
not the deepness of the wound is to be regarded, but the soundness of
the cure : they have a sense of sin and misery, Christ seeketh such to
save and cure. Some exclude all conditions and means ; he must look
to nothing in himself to make out his claim, but only to Christ's blood
shed for the expiation of his sins. Alas ! Christ came to seek and to
save that which was lost, not only as a priest, but as a prophet and as
a king ; not only to die for sins, but to call us to repentance, and to
work it in us by his Spirit. He findeth us lost sinners, but he doth
not leave us so. And conversion is a part of his salvation, as well as
redemption. He saveth us by renewing God's image in us, as well as
procuring his favour for us. To be saved from our sins is salvation,
Mat. i. 21 ; to be regenerated is salvation, as well as to be reconciled
to God ; and so the scripture speaketh of it.
3. It informeth us that, if men be not saved, the fault is their own,
for Christ doth what belongeth to him ; he came to seek and to save
what is lost ; but we do not what belongeth to us, we are not willing
to be saved. The scripture chargeth it upon our will, we will not
submit to his saving and healing methods : Mat. xxiii. 37, ' I would
have gathered thee as an hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,
but ye would not.' Christ would, but we will not. So John v. 40, 'Ye
will not come to me, that you might have life.' You complain of want
of power, when ye are not willing to leave your sins. You say, I cannot
save myself, when thou art not willing that Christ should save thee ;
thou wilt not receive the grace and help offered to thee. Possibly thou
wouldst be freed from the flames of hell, but thou wouldst not leave
thy sins. There is no man perisheth in his sins, but because he would
not be saved. Is not Christ able to help thee ? Yes ; the doubt lieth
SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10.
165
not there. Is he not willing to help thee ? Say it if thou canst. Why
did he die for thee ? Why did he send means to offer his help ? Why
did' he bear with thee so long, and warn thee so often of thy danger,
when thou thoughtest not of it? If he were not willing to help thee
out of thy misery, why doth he so often tender thee his saving grace ?
Surely the defect is in thy will, not in Christ's ; thou art in love with
the sensual pleasures of sin, loath to exchange them for the salvation
Christ offereth. Christ inviteth thee, and thy excuse is, I cannot ;
when the truth is thou wilt not come to him. The business is not
whether thou canst save thyself, but whether thou art willing Christ
should save thee ? Christ is not unwilling to do that which he seeketh
after with so much diligence and care. Say not then in thy heart, I
know Christ can save me if he will. Why, he is as willing as able to
save thee ; but he will not save thee by force, against thy will, or with
out or besides thy consent. Certainly none perish in their sins but
because they would not be saved ; they refuse the help which God
offereth, and will not improve the power which he hath given. They
refuse his help : ' I would have purged thee, but thou wouldst not be
purged,' Ezek. xxiv. 13. They do not use the power they have, for there
is no wicked man but might do more than he doth. They are slothful
servants that hide their talents in a napkin, Mat. xxv. 26. They put
off the word, quench their convictions, will not bestir themselves, nor
hearken to Christ's offers. If others had these helps, they would have
repented long ago: Mat. xi. 21, 22, 'Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe
unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works which are done in you
had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.'
Use 2. To press you to accept of this grace, and deal with Christ as
a saviour. This title is not a title of terror and dread, but of life and
comfort. Oh ! submit then to his healing methods, and suffer Christ
to save you in his own way.
Arguments to press you to accept of this grace.
1. Consider the misery of a lost condition. We were all lost in
Adam, and can only be recovered by Christ ; we fell from God by his
first transgression, and so were estranged from the womb, and went
astray as soon as we were born : Ps. Iviii. 3, ' The wicked are estranged
from the womb ; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.'
And every sin that we commit is a farther loss of ourselves, for every
wicked man doth more undo himself, and plunge himself into farther
perdition ; for our sins make a greater distance between God and us :
Isa. lix. 2, ' Your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.' And
what will be the issue but the wrath of God, and miseries in this life,
together with the everlasting torments of the damned in hell ? These
are the due effects and punishment of sin : Horn. ii. 9, ' Tribulation
and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first,
and also of the Gentiles/ Now this must be thought on seriously by
every one that will believe in Christ ; he came to recover us out of these
losses. Many have been recovered, and many shall be so ; but then
you must submit to him, otherwise the wrath of God abideth on you :
166 SEUMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10.
John iii. 36, ' He that belie veth not the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abideth on him.'
2. Think of the excellency and reality of salvation by Christ : 1 Tim.
i. 15, ' This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners.' It is worthy to be
credited, worthy to be embraced. There is in us a defect in point of
assent, and also in point of acceptance ; if we were persuaded of the
truth and worth of this salvation, we would not slight it and neglect
it as we do ; it allay eth our fears, and satisfieth our desires. Oh ! then,
let us receive it with a firm assent, and with our dearest and choicest
affections. It is vile ingratitude that we are no more affected with it.
If it were a dream, or a doctrine not suited to our soul-necessities, then
our carelessness might be the better excused. Usually we talk of it
like men in jest, or hear it like stale news. Surely we do not regard
it as lost and undone creatures should do, that have this only remedy
to free us from eternal misery, or bring us to eternal happiness, nor
with that hearty welcome which so necessary and important a truth
doth require.
3. You have the means ; you have the offer made to you : Isa. xxviL
13, ' And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet
shall be blown, and they shall come which are ready to perish in the
land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall
worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.' Some apply this
to Cyrus's proclamation for the return of God's own people from their
captivity into their own country to worship God. The ten tribes had
been carried captive into the land of Assyria, many had fled into
Egypt, but the ten tribes returned not on Cyrus's proclamation. How
ever it hath a spiritual meaning and use. Others make it an allusion
to the year of jubilee, and the trumpet which then sounded, wherein
men were set free, and returned each one to his inheritance and pos
session again, Lev. xxv. 9, 10 ; a type of the evangelical trumpet
under the Messiah, whereby God's elect are called out of their spiritual
thraldom under sin and Satan, to inherit a share in the kingdom of
grace : Isa. Ixi. 1, 2, ' The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek : he
hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of
our God, to comfort all that mourn.' Time was when Christ was sent
only to the lost sheep of Israel : Mat. xv. 24, ' I am not sent but to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel ; ' but now to people of all lands
and countries : Kev. v. 9, ' Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us
to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation.
4. If you continue in your impenitency and unbelief, it is a shrewd
presumption that you are lost, not only in the sentence of God's law,
but in the purpose of his decree : 2 Cor. iv. 3, ' For if our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost ; ' that is, passed by, as those to
whom the gospel will do no good. Certainly such as refuse the gospel
are in an actual state of perdition, lost, undone, destroyed. We speak
upon supposition, if they continue so, they are castaways. It is not an
SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10. 167
immediate absolute prediction. We cannot give out copies of God's
decrees, or seal them up to final perdition ; but we can reason from
the rules of the gospel : Mark xvi. 16, ' He that believeth not shall be
damned.' It is not a peremptory sentence ; but we must warn you of
your danger, though we do not pronounce God's doom that you are
reprobates ; that may come afterwards.
But what must we do ?
Directions. 1. Do not resist or refuse Christ's help, but when the
waters are stirred, put in for cure. As we are to wait upon God
diligently in the use of means for the saving of our souls, so we are to
entertain and improve the offers, and to give serious regard to the
friendly convictions and motions of the Spirit of God, not smothering
or quenching them, lest our last estate be worse than the first. No
water so soon freezeth in cold weather as that which hath been once
heated ; no iron so hard as that which hath been oft heated and oft
quenched ; therefore set in with such strivings of the Spirit. Christ
hath sought thee out, and found thee in these preparative convictions,
-and now he cometh to save thee ; having made thee sensible of thy
wound, let him go on with the cure, If we refuse his help, or delay it,
as Felix, Acts xxiv. 25, ' When I have a more convenient season I will
send for thee,' we lose this advantage. Therefore when Christ
knocketh, open to him ; when he draweth, run after him ; when the
wind blows, put forth the sails. One time or another God meeteth
with every man that liveth under the gospel, so that his heart saith, I
must be another man, or I shall be undone and lost for ever ; then
•Christ cometh to seek after thee and save thee in particular. Oh !
give way and welcome to his saving and healing work ; if you resist
this grace by obstinacy and hardness of heart, or elude the importunity
of it by neglect and delay, you lose an advantage which will not be
easily had again, and so put away your own mercy.
2. Seek an effectual cure ; seek not only to be saved from wrath, but
to be saved from sin. He doth not only procure it for us by his merit,
but worketh it in us by his Spirit, and giveth a penitent heart, as well
as absolution from sin. Man's misery consists of two parts — sin and
condemnation for sin ; man's salvation therefore must have two parts
opposite to these evils — sanctification, which is salvation from sin, and
pardon of sin and justification, whereby a man is delivered from guilt
And condemnation. These two are inseparable ; we must have both or
none : 1 Cor. i. 30, ' But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemp
tion ; ' 1 Cor. vi. 11, ; Such were some of you ; but ye are washed, but
ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the Spirit of our God.' Man's justification is not the cause of
his sanctification, nor his sanctification the cause of his justification,
but Christ is the cause of both ; but yet he is first sanctified, then
justified. First we recover his image, then his favour, then his fellow
ship. Now you must look after both these, not to be eased of the fear
of hell only, but to be fitted for God. The penitent heart seeketh both :
1 John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' He were a
foolish man that, having his leg broken, should only seek to be eased
168 SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10.
of the smart, and not to have his leg set right again. Sin is the mire
that carnal persons stick in, and are unwilling to be drawn out of it.
Therefore you are rightly affected when you seek not the one only, but
the other also ; to have sin subdued as well as pardoned.
3. Being justified and sanctified, you must live to the glory of God.
For you were not only lost to yourselves, but to God ; and you must be
recovered not to yourselves only, but to God also. You are redeemed
to God : ' Thou hast redeemed us to God ; ' Rev. v. 9 ; and this redemp
tion is applied to you : Heb. ix. 14, ' How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot
to God, purge your consciences from dead works, to serve the living
God.' You are mortified to the law : Gal. ii. 19, 'I through the law
am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.' You are married to
Christ : Kom. vii. 4, ' That you should be married to another, even to
him who is raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit unto
God.' In short, as we are under the new covenant, we are obliged to
live unto God; as we are justified and pardoned, we are encouraged to
live unto God ; as we are sanctified, we have a principle of grace to
incline us to live unto God ; and we shall have, besides this habitual
principle, his Spirit to work in us what is pleasing in his sight.
4. You must continue with patience in well-doing till you come to
live with God. Till then Christ's salvation is not perfect; he hath not
saved us to the uttermost ; nor is our recovery perfect ; we are not
fully cleansed from all sin, nor do we serve God perfectly, nor enjoy full
communion with him. Here Christ seeketh, and there he saveth us ;
indeed here he puts us into the way of salvation, but then are we com
pletely saved. A wicked man is gone out of the way, losing himself
more and more ; but the regenerate person, though he be put into the
way, yet he is not come to the end of the journey, and therefore now
we are but expecting and waiting for the salvation of God. It is said,
fleb. ix. 28, ' That unto them that look for him shall he appear the
second time, without sin, unto salvation.' Then he will reward all his
faithful servants that look for him. Heretofore he came to purchase
salvation, then to confer and bestow salvation. Then man shall be
delivered from all sin, and all the sad and woful consequents of sin,
and that for ever. Now this is that we look for and wait for, and that
in the way of well-doing ; for when Christ hath sought us out and
brought us home, we must wander no more. Well, then, being
renewed and justified, we must wait for the time when we shall be rid
and freed from sin and sorrow for ever.
Use 3. Is to press us to thanksgiving that the Son of God should
come from heaven to seek and save those that are lost, and us in par
ticular. Thankfulness for redemption and salvation by Christ being
the great duty of Christians, I shall a little enlarge upon it.
1. Consider how sad was thy condition in thy lost estate. You were
fallen from God, and become an enemy to him in thy mind by evil
works : Col. i. 21, ' And you, that were sometimes alienated, and
enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled ; '
and were a wretched bondslave to Satan, led captive by him at his
will : 2 Tim. ii. 26, ' And that they may recover themselves out of the
snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.' And thy
SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10. 169
work was to pursue vain pleasures, suitable to thy fleshly mind : Titus
iii. 3, ' Serving divers lusts and pleasures;' running with the rest of the
wicked world into all manner of sin: Eph. ii. 2, 'Wherein in times
past ye walked, according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience.' And all this while thou wert under a
sentence of condemnation : John iii. 18, ' He that believeth not is
condemned already.' And there was nothing but the slender thread
of a frail life between thee and execution, and the wrath of the eternal
God ready ever and anon to break out upon thee: John iii. 36, ' He
that believeth not the Son of God, shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abideth on him.' Surely we that were lost were not worth the
looking after. Now, that God should, with so much ado, and so much
care, seek to save such wretched creatures, oh! how should we be
affected with the mercy ! Which of you, having a servant that ran
away from you sound and healthy, but afterwards is become blind,
deformed, and diseased, will seek after him, and cure him with costly
medicines and much care, and bring him into the family, and receive
him with so much tenderness, as if all this had not been ? And yet
this, and much more, is the case between us and God.
2. Consider how many thousands there are in the world whom God
hath passed by, and left them in their impenitency and carnal security,
under the bondage of sin and the vassalage of Satan ; and how few
there are that shall be saved, in comparison of the multitude that shall
be eternally destroyed ; and that God should call thee with an holy
calling, and bring thee in, to be one of that little flock that is under
that good shepherd's care ; and that when there is but, as it were, one of
a family and two of a tribe, that thou shouldst be singled out from the
rest, and chosen, when they are left. What mere grace, and astonish
ing distinguishing mercy is this ! ' Who maketh thee to differ from
another ? and what hast thou that thou hast not received ? ' 1 Cor.
iv. 7. The Lord hath passed by thousands and ten thousands who, for
deserts, were all as good, and, for outward respects, much better than
us. We were as deep in original sin as they, and for actual sin, it may
be, more foul and gross ; and for dignity in the world, many more rich,
more honourable, more wise, are left in a state of sin to perish eter
nally. And that thou shouldst be as a brand plucked out of the
burning ; that God should reform thy crooked, perverse spirit, and
pardon all thy sins, and lead thee in the way of righteousness unto
eternal glory : how should thy heart and mouth be filled with the high
praises of God ! and how should you say, Blessed be the Lord God of
Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed my soul !
3. Consider what preventing grace God used towards you ; how he
sought you out, when you sought not him, that he might save you.
As this saving mercy was not deserved by you, so it was not so much
as desired by you. The Lord pitied thee when thou hadst not an
heart to pity thyself, and prevented thee with his goodness. It is good
to observe the circumstances of our first awakening, or reducement
from our wanderings. The apostle speaketh of the called Kara
Trpodeaiv, ' according to his purpose,' Horn. viii. 28. Not the purpose
of them that are converted, but the purpose of God : ' For whom he
170 SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10,
did foreknow he also did predestinate, and whom he did predestinate,
them he also called,' ver. 30. Many come to a duty with careless
and slight spirits, or by a mere chance ; as Paul's infidel : 1 Cor. xiv.
24, 25, 'But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believe th not,
or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all : and thus
are the secrets of the heart made manifest ; and so falling down on his
face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth/
Oh ! how many do thus stumble upon grace unawares, as not minding
or desiring any such matter ! Yet God directeth a seasonable word,
that pierceth into their very hearts. Sometimes when opposing and
persecuting, as Paul, Acts ix. Many that come to scoff: 'I have
seen his ways ; I will heal him,' Isa, Ivii. 18. Some are leavened with
prejudice, loath to come, drawn against their consent: John i. 46,
'Nathanael saith to Philip, Can any good come out of Nazareth?
Philip saith unto him, Come and see ; ' yet there he met with Christ.
Various circumstances there are which show Christ's vigilancy and
care in seeking after lost souls.
4. That he hath made the cure effectual, notwithstanding the reluc-
tancies of our carnal hearts. We are all of us full of the wisdom of
the flesh, and that is enmity to God : Rom. viii. 7, ' Because the carnal
mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.' Now, that our hearts should be quite changed,
and have another bias and inclination put upon them, this is the Lord's
doing, and it should be marvellous in our eyes : John iii. 6, ' That
which is born of flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit.' That we should be so quite altered as now to mind serious,
spiritual, and heavenly things, surely nothing could do this but the
almighty Spirit of Christ, or that efficacy which is proper to the
mediator.
SERMONS UPON PSALM 1C. 1.
SEKMON I.
Lord, tJwu Ttast been our divelling-place in all generations. — Ps. xc. 1.
IN a time of danger, we would all be glad if we could get a safe place
of retreat or a secure habitation, where the evil might not come nigh
us. The text will direct you to one, if you have an heart to make use
of it. f
This psalm was penned by Moses, the man of God, as the title
showeth. Its reflection is mainly upon the state of those times wherein
he lived, when the children of God wandered up and down in the
wilderness, and were sorely afflicted by sundry plagues, and great mul
titudes of them cut off by untimely death for their provocations.
The psalm is said to be a ' Prayer of Moses.' He beginneth his
prayer with an acknowledgment of God's goodness and gracious pro
tection. In the howling wilderness, and in all former ages, he had
been their habitation ; and this giveth him confidence to ask and
expect other things from God's hand. From hence we may learn to
express faith in prayer before we express desire, and give God glory in
believing before we lay forth our own wants. So doth Moses, the man
of God : ' Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.'
Dock That God is his people's habitation or dwelling-place.
I shall deliver the sum of this point in these considerations —
First, The first shall be a general truth, that true and lively faith
doth apprehend all things as present in God which it wanteth in the
creature. When they wandered up and down in the wilderness, God
was their habitation. As the life of sense is a flat contradiction to
faith, so is the life of faith to the life of sense. Faith is supported by
two things — God's all-sufficiency and gracious covenant; the one
showeth what may be, the other what shall be. As God hath a
double knowledge, scientia simpticis intelligentice et visionis; by the
former he knows all things that may be, in his own all-sufficiency ;
by the latter he knows all things that shall be, in his own decree ; so
faith sees all things made up in God. This can be, because God is
able to bring it to pass ; this shall be, because God hath promised it.
His promise is as good as performance ; therefore a believer, in the want
of all things, doth not only make a shift to live, but groweth
rich : 2 Cor. vi. 10, ' As poor, yet making many rich ; as having
nothing, and yet possessing all things.' Nothing in the view of sense,
but all things in God that are good for him. As God was as a fixed
habitation to them that were in the wilderness, so he promiseth, Ezek.
172 SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1.
xi. 16, ' Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and
although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to
them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.'
A Christian that hath learned to live by faith above sense, he can never
want anything ; he hath it in God ; and can see, not only pardon and
righteousness forthcoming out of the covenant, but food and raiment,
protection and maintenance, house and home, and all things, even
then when they are most destitute. It is not only an act of love that
God is instead of all these things, but an act of faith. As to love,
1 Sam. i. 8, ' Am I not better to thee than ten sons ? ' God is not only
better than all to a believer, but he is all.
Secondly, God's people may be reduced to such exigencies that they
may have no house nor habitation on this side God ; as now the
people of God were in a wandering condition : 1 Peter i. 1, Peter
directs his epistle, 'To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia ; ' strangers not only in
affection, but condition. Exile and separation from their outward
comforts and privileges may be the lot of the people that are dearest
to the Lord of any on earth besides : Heb. xi. 37, ' They wandered
about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tor
mented ;' ver. 38, ' They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and
in dens, and in caves of the earth.' So 1 Cor. iv. 11, 'We both
hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no cer
tain dwelling-place.' This God doth —
1. Partly to correct and humble them for the abuse of their mer
cies and the dishonours done to him in their dwellings. God hath
reserved in the covenant a liberty to correct his wanton children : Ps.
Ixxxix. 30-33, ' If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my
judgments, if they break my statutes, and keep not my command
ments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their
iniquity with stripes,' &c. ; and by Moses' law the rebellious son was
to be put out of doors. This kind of correction God himself useth for
great sins. Mark the emphatical phrases of scripture. Sometimes
our dwellings are said to cast us out, Jer. ix. 19 ; sometimes he is
said to ' sling out the inhabitants of the land out of their dwellings/
Jer. x. 18, as easily, readily, and irresistibly as a stone is cast out of a
sling ; sometimes God is said to pluck us out : Ps. lii. 5, ' He shall
take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place.' We are
apt to root there, and to dream of such a fixing as not to be moved.
Sometimes to spew us out : Lev. xviii. 28, ' That the land spew not
you out also when ye defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were
before you.' Surely it is a great offence which provoketh a loving
father to turn a child out of doora God did not turn Adam out of
paradise for eating an apple, as ignorant people talk. There is a long
bill brought in by divines. Or if not for great sins, yet God thus
punishes them, though in some more moderate way, for lesser sins ;
as for their little sense of God's love, and merciful provision of so
great a comfort as an habitation for them. Surely we should show
more thankfulness when we enjoy the effects of God's bounty in this
kind, that he should give us any repose, or place to rest in, not vouch
safed to Christ : Mat. viii. 20, ' The foxes have holes, and the birds of
SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. L 173
the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.'
He had no certain place of residence, not so much as a fox's hole or
a bird's nest. So, considering our condition, God's people are strangers,
-and so must look to be ill-treated by the men of the world. Rdigio
scit se peregrinam esse in terris — Eeligion is a stranger in the
earth : Kuth ii. 10, ' Why have I found grace in thy sight, that thou
shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger ? ' a kind word
was much. Now, that God should give us a resting-place in our pil
grimage is a great mercy, and if we are not thankful for it, God may
make us to wander. Or their little compassion to other exiled and
shiftless ones provokes God that he thus corrects them, and maketh
their abode more uncertain. Till we have felt misery ourselves we
cannot pity others. Israel learned to pity strangers by being a
stranger in the land of Egypt : Exod. xxiii. 9, ' Also thou shalt not
oppress a stranger ; for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt.' Experience showeth us more than
guess and imagination.
2. For their trial ; to see how they will bear it for God's sake, and
when God's will and pleasure is so ; as those in the Hebrews. God
trieth the strength of our resignation : Mark x. 29, 30, ' There is no man
that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel, but he shall
receive an hundredfold in this life, houses and brethren,' &c. Not in
kind, as Porphyry and Julian scoffed, but in value. The fortitude
and courage of God's children is seen upon those occasions when they
are shiftless and harbourless, or threatened by men to be cast forth of
house and home : 1 Cor. iv. 13, ' We are made as the filth 'of the world,
and are the off-scouring of all things to this day,' •nepityyfjui /cal
TrepiKaddpfjiara, the sweeping of the city. The apostle saith, Heb.
xiii. 13, ' Let us go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his
reproach.' The good Levites left their possessions : 2 Chron. xi.
14, ' The Levites left their suburbs, and their possession, and came
to Judah and Jerusalem ; for Jeroboam and his sons had cast
them off from executing the priest's office unto the Lord.' When
we are thrust forth contemptibly, and rejected of the world, let us
bear it with patience. Eudoxia threatened Chryspstom with banish
ment; he replied, Nihil timeo nisi peccatum — 1 fear nothing but
sin. The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof ; God is our
habitation. An heathen could say, Ibi exilium, ubi virtuti non est
locus — There is banishment where there is no place for virtue ; where
a man hath no service to do, and no opportunity to own or glorify
God.
3. Sometimes to show his sovereignty over us, and all our temporal
interests and concernments. So by noisome diseases God sees fit to
drive us for a while from our dwellings, and we are exposed to sad
scatterings ; as in the case of the leper : Lev. xiii. 46, ' All the days
wherein the plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled ; he is unclean,
he shall dwell alone ; without the camp shall his habitation be.'
4. Sometimes to spread knowledge, to scatter the seeds of the word
among those that are strangers to God. The good figs were put into
the basket to be carried out of the country for food, Jer. xxiv. 5. The
174 SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1.
disciples that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the-
word, Acts viii. 1. God scattereth his enemies as smoke is scattered
by the wind, but he scattereth his people as corn is scattered by the
hand of the sower : Micah v. 7, ' The remnant of Jacob shall be in
the midst of many people, as dew from the Lord ; ' to refresh and make
others fruitful towards God. So Zech. x. 9, ' I will sow them among
the people, and they shall remember me in far countries.' God would
make their scattering to be a means to bring in the fulness of the
Gentiles. Well, then, this may be, and often is, the condition of the
people of God.
Thirdly, In this appellation and title a metaphor is ascribed to God,
and so there is implied, that whatever may be expected from an habi
tation and dwelling-place, that may be and eminently is found in God.
An house serveth for three uses — (1.) For our defence and shelter from
the storms ; (2.) It is the seat of our blessings, and the storehouse of
our comforts ; (3.) It is the place of our rest and repose. Now all these
a believer findeth in God ; protection, provision, and peace, and com
fort ; yea, whatever a soul can wish for : therefore here a child of God
may and must dwell.
1. Here is defence, or the warm and comfortable protection of God
Almighty. We have many enemies, spiritual and bodily ; we need a
defence, and God alone is the only proper object for our trust for this
benefit.
[1.] Because he hath undertaken to keep us, and guard us from all
evil. See Gen. xv. 1, ' Fear not, Abraham ; I am thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward ; ' Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' The Lord God is a sun and
a shield.' The removal of evil belongeth to his covenant, as well as the
bestowing of all manner of blessings. The blessings of the covenant
are privative and positive. His providence is mainly seen in our pil
grimage in keeping off evils. Plures sunt gratice privativce — There are
more privative blessings here, in keeping from sin, temptation, and
danger. In the world to come we know more of the positive blessings.
See also that promise, Zech. ii. 5, ' I will be unto her a wall of fire
round about/ Pray mark the promise, for every word is emphatical.
It was spoken when the returning Jews were discouraged with the small
number they had wherewith to people their country and man their
towns against their enemies. Now, after a promise of future increase,
God for the present telleth them that he ' would be to her a wall of fire
round about.' The words are so precious, it is a pity a syllable should
be lost. There are two promises included in this one promise —
(1.) That God will be a wall. There is a distinct promise for that :
Isa. xxvi. 1, *We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks round about her.' So Ps. cxxv. 2, ' As the moun
tains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people
from henceforth even for ever.' God will be instead of all guards.
(2.) Then a wall of fire ; not of brass or of stone, but of fire. Qui
comminus arceat et eminus terreat. They made fires about them to
keep off the wild beasts. Here is enough for a refuge, and to stay our
hearts on the Lord's keeping. Would God speak at this rate, and not
be a shelter to us ? If we did make use of him, we should find the
benefit. These promises show that we have leave to dwell in God as
SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. L 175
our fortress, and that we shall not be refused lodging, nor thrust out
when we enter into him for that end and purpose. Yea, they give us
confidence as well as leave that we shall have the benefits we expect,
or a benefit every way as good or better.
[2.] Because he alone will keep us, and every part of us, and all that
belongeth to us ; our souls, our bodies, our names, and our estates.
(1.) Our souls : Ps. cxxi. 7, ' The Lord shall preserve thee from all
evil, he shall preserve thy soul.' If a believer lose anything by
trouble, he shall not lose what is most precious, he shall not lose his
soul. In a fire, a man careth not so much though his lumber be burnt,
if he can preserve his money and his jewels. Our soul is in more
danger than the body, and needs more keeping. Our body is in danger
of men, but our soul of spiritual and ghostly enemies. If God suspend
the keeping of the soul, how soon doth man fall and lose himself I
Now God preserveth the souls of the saints : Ps. xxii. 20, ' Deliver my
soul from the sword, and my darling from the power of the dog.'
(2.) Our bodies are not left to the wills of men, but are under the
special care and protection of God : Ps. xxxiv. 20, ' He keepeth all his
bones, not one of them is broken.' They are not left to the will of
instruments in their trouble. In our Lord Christ was this promise
fulfilled. Nay, the excrementitious parts are taken care of : Mat. x. 30,
' The very hairs of your head are all numbered.' He hath a care, not
only of the essential parts, body and soul, and' of their integral parts,
any joint or limb, but of their excrementitious parts, which are the
least things about them, and serve for ornament rather than for use.
(3.) So for all their concernments and estates : Job i. 10, ' Hast not
thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all
that he hath on every side ? ' Not only about him, but his children,
servants, horses, oxen, asses ; Satan could not find a gap or breach
whereby to enter and work him any annoyance. Such an invisible
guard there is upon the saints. It is true there is a difference. God
hath absolutely promised to save the souls of his people, but life and
the comforts of it, so far as shall be expedient for his glory and our
good ; upon which terms we must trust all in his hands.
(4.) I had almost forgotten our name : Ps. xxxi. 20, ' Thou shalt
keep them secretly, as in a pavilion, from the strife of tongues.' Slander
and detraction is an arrow that flieth in secret, and so we are often
struck with a blow that smarteth not. Calumnies and false accusa
tions are privily whispered to our wrong and prejudice. Now it is a
comfort to remember that God hath the keeping of our credit as well
as of other things. He will not only keep us from being smitten, from
the fist of wickedness, but from the strife of tongues.
[3.] Because he can shelter us from all sorts of enemies. All our
enemies and dangers, they are all under God and at his disposal. There
fore we are said, Ps. xci. 1, to ' dwell in the secret place of the Most
High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty.' God is most
high and almighty, and the enemies of yoiir salvation are something
under God, whether men or devils. Men are but poor instruments in
God's hands. They can do no more than God pleaseth. When you
are in their hands, they are in God's hands : Acts iv. 28, ' To do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be
176 SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1.
done.' Devils are not exempted from the dominion and government
of his providence ; they can do nothing without leave, whether as
enemies of your bodies or of your souls. Pests are thought to be an
effect of his malice : Ps. xci. 3, ' He shall deliver thee from the snare
of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.' See Job's case
chap. ii. 7, ' So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and
smote Job with sore boils, from the sole of his foot unto his crown/
The devils are princes of the power of the air, but God is most high.
They must have leave'; if the devil could not enter into the herd of
swine without leave, surely he cannot afflict the bodies of men without
leave. Oh ! could we dwell above in God, all the frightful things in
the world would seem less to us. Though we are in the midst of a
thousand dangers, what should we fear, that dwell above in the bosom
of the almighty God ? Things the more remote, the less they seem,
and the nearer they are, the greater. We that inhabit the earth judge
the mountains that are before our eyes to be of an unmeasurable big
ness, and the stars, that are distant from us, seem but little sparks and
spangles ; but if we could ascend into heaven, then we should see those
globes of light to be of an incredible bigness, and all our Alps and
Pyrenees to be but like little spots. Those that converse above, that
dwell in the secret place of the Most High, the difficulties and dangers
of the world seem as nothing to them. They can despise this anthill
of the world, as a poor little sandy heap, that is soon spurned into dust.
But God's help seemeth greater, and therefore they are not troubled nor
afraid. They can say, Kom. viii. 31, 'If God be for us, who can be
against us ? ' Goliath frighted all the hosts of Israel, but David went
forth against him in the name of the Lord : 1 Sam. xvii. 45, ' Thou
comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield ; but I
come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies
of Israel, whom thou hast defied.' David could despise the giant, as
much as the giant despised David. Compare any of the children of
this world with a servant of God, that dwelleth in the shadow of the
Almighty, and what a difference will you find ! One dismayed with
every danger, troubled with every petty loss ; why so ? Because he
dwelleth in the earth, and converseth only with created things, and so
small things seem great to him. But now take any of the servants of
God, who live in God, as the martyrs ; they are not daunted with fires,
swords, wheels, gibbets, beasts ; they are as a flea-biting. They are
acquainted with things truly great ; nay, many of the evils we feel
come from God himself, from his immediate hand ; as pestilence and
famine. None are affected with these things more than a child of God,
as they are tokens of his Father's displeasure. He is not stupid and
foolhardy ; none hath such a tender sense of the events and effects of
providence as he hath. • He looketh upon them with an eye of nature
and of grace, and seeth God in them ; yet none are less discomposed in
such cases. They know none can withdraw himself from God, or lie
hid from his eye, when he maketh inquisition for sinners. Quia tefugit,
quo fugiet nisi a te irato, ad te pacatum f — He that flies from thee,
whither shall he fly, but from thee as angry to thee as appeased ? There
is no way to avoid his justice but by flying to his mercy. Kings and
potentates of the earth, their wrath may be escaped ; their eyes cannot
SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1. 177
see all, nor their hands reach all ; but none can hide themselves from
him that filleth heaven and earth with his presence. There is no hiding
from God but in God.
[4.] Because of the manner of his defence and protection. It is
everywhere expressed as a secret invisible thing, that cannot be seen
with bodily eyes. So Job xxix. 4, ' The secret of the Lord was upon
my tabernacle/ Meaning his gracious protection. So Ps. xxxi. 20,
' Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride
of man ; thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife
of tongues.' So Ps. xci. 1, ' He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.' This
keeping is not liable to the view of sense. A man is kept nobody
knoweth how ; abroad, yet hidden in God. Natural men cannot
discern the way of it. When to appearance they are laid in com
mon with others, yet they are distinguished from others by the special
care of God's providence, God's truth, power, grace, and goodness,
whereon faith doth fix itself. It is a riddle and a mystery to the
world, which carnal reason knoweth not to improve to any satisfaction
and comfort. However it teacheth us to depend upon the providence
of God, whether there be any appearance of the benefit we look for,
yea or no. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, but it is an
invisible tower, only found out by faith, and entered into by faith.
Therefore he that would take up his dwelling-place in God must not
govern himself by probabilities of sense, but by maxims of faith.
2. An house is the seat of our blessings, and the place where we
lay up our comforts ; and so God is our habitation, as we expect all
our supplies and provisions from him. So the saints have God for
their storehouse, and his all-sufficiency for their portion, out of which
they fetch not only peace, and grace, and righteousness, but food and
raiment : Ps. xxiii. 1, ' The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ; '
Ps. xxxiv. 1, ' 0 fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to
them that fear him ; ' Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' For the Lord God is a sun
and a shield ; the Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing
will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.' We must not
prescribe at what rate we will be maintained, for that is to ask meat
for our lusts, and to set providence a task which it will not comply
withal. But that which is good for us he will not deny unto us. He
that satisfieth the desire of every living thing cannot be unkind to his
people: Ps. cxlv. 16, 'Thou openest thy hand, and satisfiest the
desire of every living thing;' compared with ver. 18, 19, 'The
Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in
truth ; he will fulfil the desire of them that fear him ; he also will
hear when they cry, and will save them.' He that provideth not for
his own is worse than an infidel ; and can unbelief paint out God as so
negligent and careless ? Christ taxeth them as of little faith : Mat
yi. 30, ' Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, that to-day
is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe
you, 0 ye of little faith ? ' Shall we pretend to believe in God for
eternal life, and not trust in him for daily bread ?
3. The house is the place of our abode and rest ; so in God we have
consolation, as well as protection and provision. It is blustering
VOL. XVIII. M
178 SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1.
weather abroad, but in the bosom of God we may repose ourselves :
John xvi. 33, ' These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye
might have rest : in the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the world.' As it is comfortable to be
within, and hear the rattling of the storm on the tiles, so it is to have
inward peace in outward trouble : 2 Cor. i. 5, ' As the sufferings of
Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.'
Abroad a Christian hath his labours and sorrows, but in God is his rest ;
when he has recourse thither, he is at ease : 1 Sam. xxx. 6, David
encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
Well, then, we have the effect of a house in God ; in him we may
dwell quietly, as in a secure, safe, and comfortable place, and need not
fear any danger whatsoever. Thus much for the metaphorical reflec
tion upon these words, which is the third consideration.
4. I observe, this title hath a special respect to that particular
mercy of a dwelling-place, and to God's providence in and about our
habitations. And so it is of use to us — (1.) When we want a dwelling-
place ; or, (2.) When we have one.
[1.] When we want a dwelling-place, or such an one as may be safe
and commodious for us. A child of God should not be dismayed,
nor altogether without hope, as if God could not provide a dwelling-
place for him. Now, now is the time for God to show himself most
eminently to be an habitation. Neither through ignorance and unbe
lief should we conclude ourselves to be forgotten and forsaken of him.
We are very apt to do so ; and it is a great temptation when we are
shiftless and harbourless : Isa. xlix. 14, ' Zion said, The Lord hath
forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me/ Therefore I shall lay
down some considerations.
(1.) Consider God's general providence. The apostle telleth us,
that ' he hath determined ' concerning all men ' the times before
appointed, and the bounds of their habitation,' Acts xvii. 26 ; when
and where men shall live. They do not flit up and down by chance,
but by God's providence. They are not born by chance, nor do they
die by chance, nor live here and there by chance ; some in this climate,
some in that, in Europe, or Asia, or America. That one possesseth
so much, another so little ; all is under God's guidance and direction.
As God divided the land of Canaan by lot, which is a kind of appeal
to God, Josh. xiv. 2, so the whole world is carved out by God's direction.
He enlargeth and straiteneth nations and persons according to his own
pleasure. The generality of men, indeed, are spilt upon the great
common of the earth by a looser providence ; but there is a more
especial care about his people. They are ' the salt of the earth, ' and
' the light of the world,' Mat. v. 13, 14. God sprinkleth them, and
scattereth them here and there, for use and service. They are his
jewels ; a man is more careful of them than of ordinary and common
utensils : and among them, as any are more useful, so they are more
under his special care ; as the journeys of the apostles were guided by
the Spirit, as well as their doctrine. The Spirit moved them, or the
Spirit suffered them not : Acts xvii. 7, ' They essayed to go into
Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not.' Therefore certainly God
taketh notice of their condition ; and in every place where they are
scattered he will provide subsistence for them while he hath service
SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1. 179
and work for them to do, and will follow them in all the places of
their dispersion with the testimonies of his love and respect : Ps. xcix.
14, ' For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake
his inheritance.' Men often cast them off, as unworthy to be members
of the church or any civil corporation, yet God will not cast them
off. He may suffer them to be exercised and tried, but, because of
his interest in them, he will take care of them.
(2.) Consider his covenant and promise. God offereth to be his
people's dwelling-place, and they choose him and use him as such.
The covenant is both expressive of God's grace and our duty, what
God is, and what the saints should make him to be, how they should
use him and employ him. God undertaketh to be our habitation,
and we accordingly must address ourselves to him for this benefit.
See Ps. xci. 1, ' He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.' The qualification
and the privilege are both expressed there, almost in the same terms,
implying that if we will take God to be to us what he offereth to be,
and what he hath promised to be, we shall find him actually and
indeed to be so when need shall require it, and we make use of him
for that end. Therefore why should a believer doubt of safety, comfort,
and rest ? It is not any other privilege that is promised, viz., that he
that dwelleth in God shall have more grace, or heaven at last. No ;
but he shall dwell in God. Nor is it any other qualification that is
required, whether love, or fear, or exact obedience, but he that
dwelleth in God. Now when this duty and this privilege are suited,
use God as an habitation, and he becometh so. As delight is rewarded
with delight : Isa. Iviii. 13, 14, ' If thou turn away thy foot from the
sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath
a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, &c., then shalt thou
delight thyself in the Lord ; ' and courage or strength of heart is
rewarded with strength of heart : Ps. xxvii. 14, ' Wait on the Lord,
be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart ; ' Ps. xxxi.
24, ' Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye
that hope in the Lord ; ' so dwelling in God is rewarded with dwelling
in God ; for God loveth to make good the undertaking of faith, and
will every way answer his people's expectation. Surely this should
encourage us that our privilege and our duty are so near of kin, and
that God promiseth much and requireth little, only that we should
own him by faith to be what he is, and what he hath promised to be.
Dwell in God, and you shall dwell in God; in all dangers and
distresses you shall have a safe and comfortable lodging in him. Our
dangers that compass us about are great, and every day grow more
and greater, and therefore will easily invite us to seek a safe refuge.
God Almighty only requireth that he may be this refuge ; trust him,
and you shall have all that trust can expect from him. Among men,
protection costs dear ; every private man, that he may be protected by
the government he liveth under, is willing to support it with a good
part of his estate. God, that protects our soul and body, desireth
only that he may be trusted with the keeping of both ; and then he
will be to us whatsoever faith will have him to be. Use God as your
habitation, and he becometh so.
(3.) Consider the constant experience of the saints ; in the text, ' Thou
180 SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. L
hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.' He hath been so to his
people living in every place and in every age. When their fathers were
travellers in a strange country, God wa.s a dwelling-place to them ; to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when they were in Egypt, when in Gerar,
and when in Padan-aram. By one means or other they were still
driven up and down in the world ; sometimes by special command, some
times by some judgment, as by famine ; but still God provided a place
of shelter for them. So for themselves, in all their troubles and travels ;
in Egypt there was a Goshen provided for them there ; in the wilder
ness they had tents, and quails, and manna, that fell round about them ;
God kept a market for them in the wilderness, and sent in provisions
from heaven. Now they gather confidence in their remaining troubles,
and that God's people cannot be houseless and harbourless : Exod.
xxxiii. 14, ' My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.'
Under his defence they dwell safe and sound in the wilderness. The
Shekinah, or God's majestic presence, went along with them, though
they had not an opportunity to build an house ; therefore God supposed
they would not forget this, even when they had built to themselves
goodly houses, Deut. viii. 12-16. Now God once gracious is ever
gracious, for God is always like himself. If he was so to former saints,
or his people living in former ages, he will ever be so ; we may lay
claim to the same privileges, the same mediator, the same covenant,
the same terms of grace. The Lord's kindness to his people is alike
in all ages.
[2.] It is of use to us when we have an house ; God is still to be
owned as our habitation. A Christian should always make use of God,
and look beyond the creature, whatever his condition be. There are
two notions — of a refuge and of an habitation : Ps. xci. 9, ' Because
thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy
habitation.' A refuge is the place of our retreat in a time of danger ;
an habitation is the place of our residence in a time of peace. Most
men make use of God in their straits and the time of adversity, when
they are beaten to him, and have no other place of retreat God is
their refuge, but he is not their habitation. They are frightened into
a little religiousness when they are in trouble, and their life and tem
poral comforts are in hazard. They use God as men in a city do a porch
or penthouse, or as men in a journey do a broad and well-spread tree ;
they run to it in a storm, but do not fix their residence there. The
psalmist speaketh of dwelling and abiding : Ps. XCL 1, ' He that
dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty.' He doth not say, he that hopeth or trusteth
in the Most High ; but ' he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most
High.' We must not run to God's help, as we run to a tree or pent
house, to use it only for a time, or for a turn, and by compulsion, against
our wills. Many seem to beg God's help in prayer, but are not protected
by him ; they seek it only in a storm, and when all other means and
refuges fail them. But a Christian must maintain constant communion
with God ; must dwell in God, not run to him now and then. It is an
everlasting truth, ' Thou art our habitation.' In this respect a snail
may be an emblem of a Christian ; they carry their houses about with
them ; and though they wander here and there, yet still they are at
SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1. 181
home. God is not to be used for a turn, but for every good thing his
people need, and he is to be acknowledged iu all things which we have ;
not for one day only, but there must be a constant recourse to him :
Ps. Ixxi. 3, ' Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continu
ally resort.'
SERMON II.
Lord, ihou Jiast been our diuelling-pla.ce in all generations. — Ps. xc. 1.
WE must make use of God daily, owning him in all things that we
have. Therefore, whether we have or want an house, he is still our
habitation. How when we have an house ?
1. Whatsoever comfort aud safety we have in an outward dwelling
must be owned as the effect of his bounty, who ruleth in all our affairs,
and giveth and taketh these things at his own pleasure. So it is said,
Exod. i. 21, 'Because the midwives feared God, that he made them
houses.' It is the Lord's providence that we enjoy anything in this kind,
an house, health, peace, and safety therein : Ps. iii. 5, ' I laid me down
and slept ; I awaked, for the Lord sustained me.' So Ps. iv. 8, ' I will
both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me
dwell in safety.' So that the habitation of our habitation is God himself.
Alas ! without him the noblest dwelling will be but a comfortless place.
All the world are but tenants-at-will to God, who is our great landlord,
and putteth into possession, and turneth out of possession, as he pleaseth :
' I gave thee thy master's house/ saith God to David, 2 Sam. xii. 8.
God is called ' the possessor of heaven and earth,' Gen. xiv. 19. Not
only the creator, but the possessor ; because he still disposeth of all
things here below. We are but his tenants-at-will, received by him.
into those places he seeth convenient for us, and entertained by him
during our abode there. He is the preserver of us and our dwellings
against what evil might otherwise befall us by men or devils, or any
kind of accident. He keepeth off the violence of men. When the males
go up to worship at Jerusalem, the enemy shall not desire their land.
He keepeth off diseases. When dangers are near, ' A thousand shall fall
at thy side, and ten thousands at thy right hand ; it shall not come nigh
thee,' Ps. xci. 7, and ver. 10, ' The plague shall not come nigh thy
dwelling/ This must be acknowledged then when we dwell in safety.
2. God must not be displeased or dishonoured in our houses, but
glorified, served, and obeyed. A practical acknowledgment giveth God
more glory than *a verbal acknowledgment ; and we destroy our own
happiness, and cannot depend upon him with that comfort for the con
tinuance of our mercies, if we do not honour, and love him, and serve
him. We saw before how sin maketh men's dwellings to spew them
out and cast them out ; they will soon grow weary of us if we do not
pay our great landlord the constant rent of duty, service, and worship.
Surely if we would comfortably enjoy God there, we must walk up
rightly and glorify God there : Ps. ci. 2, ' I will walk in my house wiih
182 SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1.
a perfect heart.' There his domestical carriage is described, and how
he would purge his house from all impurity : Ps. xxx, the title, ' A
psalm of David at the dedication of his house.' We should enter upon
our houses in a religious manner, and consecrate ourselves and houses
to him. It is good to observe the different carriage of men in their
houses. Nebuchadnezzar, when he walked in the palace of Babylon,
Dan. iv. 30, ' Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house
of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my
majesty ? ' Pride of heart came .upon him. Those Jews that dwelt in
ceiled houses were well and at ease, therefore neglected God : Hag. i.
2, ' This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's
house should be built' David : 2 Sam. vii. 2, ' See now, I dwell in an
house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.' Nebu
chadnezzar was proud, the Jews careless, David zealous. Say then, What
have I done for God, who hath done so much for me ? It was a saying
of Parisiensis, Qui majores terras possident, minores census tulerunt —
Those that possessed great estates paid the least taxes. In many great
houses how little is God owned ! God hath many times more prayers
from a smoky cottage than from great men's houses. The revenues of
heaven do more arise from a few poor broken-hearted Christians, that
have little in the world, than from great ones, that have altogether
broken the yoke.
3. We must inure the soul to the thoughts of a change, and live in
the midst of the abundance of worldly comforts with greater weaned-
ness and looseness of heart, as remembering that temporal enjoyments
are not our happiness, that here God will exercise us with much uncer
tainty, and that ' surely every man at his best estate is altogether
vanity,' Ps. xxxix. 5. When we seem most settled, to rest secure
upon temporal things is but to raise a fabric or structure upon the ice.
God can soon remove us, not only by the great remove of death, but
by many intervening accidents during life. When we have surest
tenures, strongest dwellings, clearest air, best accommodations, how
soon can the Lord blast all these things, and break in upon us by his
judgments ! There were two types, leaven in their thank-offerings,
and dwelling in booths at the feast of tabernacles, Deut. xvi. 13, 14,
with Lev. xxiii. 42. After they had gathered in their corn and wine,
and their houses were full of all the blessings of the earth, then they
were to dwell in tents. They that are secure, as if above changes, God
will soon show them the vanity of all earthly enjoyments : Ps. xxx. 6,
7, ' In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy
favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong ; thou didst hide
thy face and I was troubled.' No man ever slept well on a carnal
pillow, but his rest was disturbed before his night was spent.
4. Be content with God's allowance. God is our habitation, and
doth appoint to us how much or how little we shall have of these com
forts. He is, as to temporal things, a larger habitation to some than to
others. If he be but an hiding-place to us, though not a palace, we
must be contented : Ps. cxix. 114, ' Thou art my shield and my
hiding-place.' David took notice of that as a great mercy. We are
not to seek great things for ourselves. If we have any tolerable safety,
or any tolerable condition of life, and opportunity of service, it is
SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1. 183
enough. The degree of enjoying these comforts must be left to God
himself. Promises were not made to suffice covetousness, but to
encourage us in our want: Heb. xiii. 5, 'Let your conversation be
without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have ;
for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake tbee.' Purge the
soul from worldly desires, and then there will be room and place for
the exercise of faith.
5. If God be our habitation, the heart must not be fixed in the creature,
nor diverted from the everlasting enjoyment of him. For the present,
your dwelling is in God himself. Now God is enjoyed three ways —
in the creature, in the ordinances, and in heaven. These three ways of
enjoying God must not clash one with another, but be subordinate. To be
satisfied in the enjoyment of God, so far as the creature or outward things
can let him out to us, is a sign of a carnal heart. David was otherwise
minded ; his great thing in this world was to enjoy God in his ordinances.
See Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek
after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple ; ' that is,
to enjoy God in the ordinances. Now those that desire thus to enjoy
God in the ordinances will long to see his face in heaven ; for these
are but part of his ways, a taste, to make us long for more. Besides,
God is never so much, so truly an house to us, as in heaven : 2 Cor.
v. 1, ' For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.' That house should be mainly desired.
Therefore all that we enjoy here should but quicken our desires after
more in heaven ; for if God be our habitation, he is there all in all :
Heb. xi. 14, ' For they that say such things, declare plainly that they
seek a country ; ' and ver. 16, 'Now they desire a better country, that
is, an heavenly.' There is our inheritance, which is immortal, eternal,
and undefiled ; there is our Father, and the best of our kindred. If
the creature were only our habitation, then it were good to be here
still ; but since God is, we must strive to be there where we shall have
most of him. And therefore, as to the creature, and any outward
comforts resulting from thence, we must carry ourselves as strangers
and pilgrims. The life of faith is heaven anticipated, and heaven is
but the life of faith perfected. Here we must be contented to be
strangers and pilgrims. So was Abraham, who had the best right:
Heb. xi. 9, ' By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange
country.' So was David, who had most possession : Ps. xxxix. 12, ' 1
am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.' He
that had so full a right to an opulent powerful kingdom ; not only
when he was chased like a flea or partridge on the mountains, but in
his full glory and prosperity, when he offered many cart-loads of gold
and silver : 1 Chron. xxix. 15, ' For we are strangers before thee, and
sojourners, as were all our fathers.' Jesus Christ, who was Lord
paramount, complains, Ps. Ixix. 8, ' I am become a stranger to my
brethren, and an alien to my mother's children.' He that was Lord of
all had neither house nor home. He telleth us, John xvii. 16, ' I am
not of this world.' He passed through the world to sanctify it as a
place of service, but his heart and constant residence was not here, to
184 SERMONS UPON PSALM XO. 1.
fix in it as a place of rest. All that are Christ's have the spirit of
Christ.- Tr\v <yrjv ov Karoiicovpev, a\\a Trapoifcovfjiev, saith Chryso-
stom — We pass through, but do not inhabit this world. Here we
are absent from our own country, yea, from our God, who is our
house and home : 2 Cor. v. 6, ' Whilst we are at home in the body, we
are absent from the Lord.' We are at home there where we may enjoy
the full of God. Our hearts should be still homeward, and we should
take little and moderate pleasure in the delights that offer themselves
in the course of our pilgrimage, and esteem it an honour if we may get
a little leave and respite to do any piece of service to God while we are
upon our journey.
Use of all. To press us to dwell in God. This is the happiness and
honour of the people of God, that they dwell in God, and God dwelleth
in them. He holdeth comfortable communion with them by the
influences of his grace, and they have free recourse to him upon all
occasions. Oh ! how sweet and comfortable is it to have a lodging in
God's heart, to take up our mansion-house in his all-sufficiency, and to
find there protection, provision, and all manner of consolation ! I
shall — (1.) Press you to it by some motives ; (2.) Show you what it
is, and in what manner it is done.
1. To press you to it.
[1.] Nothing else will be a sure refuge and dwelling-place for us on
this side God.
(1.) Will you dwell ia your own wit? How soon can God turn
that into folly, and bring you to such exigencies as you know not what
to do nor say. Many skilful men have perished : Job v. 13, ' He
taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward
is carried headlong/
(2.) Will you dwell in your own wealth ? It is a usual sin. A man
is known by his trust ; his constitution of mind and heart is according
to it : Ps. cxv. 8, ' So is every one that trusts in them.' That this is
a usual sin, see Prov. xviii. 10, 11, ''The name of the Lord is a strong
tower ; the righteous runneth into it and is safe : the rich . man's
wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.'
What the name of the Lord is to the one, that a man's wealth is to
the other ; by it he thinks to repel all evil and obtain all good. They
promise themselves all happiness ; they can shift and run from God.
This is a great sin : Eph. v. 3, ' But fornication, and all uncleanness
and coveteousness, let it not be once named among you ; ' Mark x. 24,
' How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom
of God ! ' Yet hardly avoidable. Therefore that caution given, Ps.
Ixii. 10, ' If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.' As soon
as we have anything in the world, we are apt presently to build our
hopes upon it, to the wrong of God and our own souls ; but all things
on this side God will prove a ruinous habitation, ready to fall on the
head of the inhabitant: 1 Tim. vi. 17, 'Charge them that are rich in
this world that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches.'
These pass from hand to hand and from house to house ; those whom
they seem to make happy one day, they leave empty and naked the next.
To promise ourselves a long enjoyment of them is to play the fool :
Luke xii. 19, ' Thou fool 1 this night thy soul shall be required of
SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1. 185
thee ; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? '
' Kiches profit not in the day of wrath/ Prov. xi. 4. They will not
allay the displeasure of God, nor keep off a noisome disease ; they
cannot purchase a pardon, buy health, or prolong life for one day.
(3.) Will you dwell in, or trust in strength of body, good constitu
tion, natural beauty ? Ps. xxxix. 5, ' Verily every man at his best
estate is altogether vanity.' Alas 1 how soon can God arm the humours
of your own body against you ; bring on a noisome disease, while
you are in your prime, and turn this beautiful body into a loathsome
carcase !
(4.) Will you dwell in honour and greatness ? A king confuted
his flatterers, that told him what a mighty prince he was, what a great
command he had by sea and land, by causing his chair to be set near
the waves upon the sand. It will not keep off one wave, not a sickness,
nor approaches of death. How soon can God lay your honour in the
dust ! Ps. cxlvi. 4, ' His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth ;
in that very day his thoughts perish ; ' Ps. xlix. 20, ' Man, that is in
honour and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish ; ' a house
of clay soon crumbled into dust. How many may stand on their
fathers' graves, and say, Where is all the glory and honour they once
enjoyed ? Now what good have their pleasures and prosperity done
them ? when he that dwelleth in God is on a sure foundation.
(5.) Will you dwell in friends ? This is a great blessing ; but if it
withdraw the heart from God, it is a great snare. Friends, in many
cases, can only do us good by their wishes. God can send noisome
diseases, when ' friends and lovers stand afar off, and our kindred stand
aloof from us,' Ps. xxxviii. 11. Friends are mutable : 2 Sam. xvi. 4,
' Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto
Mephibosheth.' A sentence unworthy so just a king towards the son of
his dearest Jonathan, to whom he was so strongly engaged for his true
worth, incomparable love, singular favours, yea, by oath and covenant,
so solemnly made again and again in the presence of God. Keason of
state and jealousy are incident to empire. Men are but men ; they
die : 1 Kings i. 21, ' It shall come to pass, when my lord the king
shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be
counted offenders/ Those that dwell in God have better protection
than the minions of princes : Ps. cxviii. 8, 9, ' It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in men : it is better to trust in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes/ In greatest extremities, nothing
more frail than an arm of flesh, though now never so rich and powerful.
(6.) Will you dwell in your own righteousness ? None trust in their
own righteousness so much as they that have least cause. Alas !
what will this do, if God enter into judgment with you ? Ps. cxliii. 2,
'Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no
man living be justified/
[2.] You will not be refused lodging, nor thrust out when you come
to him, seriously, humbly, and penitently, whatsoever your condition
be. Jure venit cultos ad sibi quisque deos — All come for relief to
their gods : Jonah i. 6, ' Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God
will think upon us, that we perish not ; ' Kuth ii. 12, ' A full reward
be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art
186 SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. L
come to trust.' There is no exception against you because of your
outward condition : Ps. xci. 1, ' He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the Most High,' &c. It is spoken indefinitely, whosoever he be, high
or low, rich or poor, young or old ; for God is no accepter of persons,
but is rich to all that call upon him. Among men it falleth out other
wise ; the poor, who most need protection and cherishing, have least
share of it. Men are obnoxious to many wants and weaknesses, there
fore barter with their kindnesses, and give harbour and entertainment
where they may receive it again. But this is a general and common
promise, that excludeth no sort of men. Here is no distinction of high
or low, prince or subject, nobles or common people ; whoso cometh to
seek a hiding in God is welcome, if he cometh in faith. The bosom
of providence is open to receive persons of all ages, sexes, degrees, and
state of life. It is the fashion of the world to respect great ones. If
a rich or noble man should invite himself to our houses, we take it for
a great favour ; we strain ourselves to give him suitable entertainment ;
the more free they are with us, the more we give them thanks ; if they
eat heartily of the provisions we have made for them, we take ourselves
to be obliged by a new benefit ; which boldness, if a poor man should
take, we look upon it as a saucy intrusion, and we rate him away with
a frown. They are the rich that are respected, the rich are entertained,
their causes and suits are dispatched, when the poor can hardly get
access and audience. As all floods run to the sea, so doth the respect
of the world to the rich and mighty. Where they expect a return,
there they bestow their courtesies. But God respecteth all, for he
needeth none ; he is present with all, provideth for all, supplieth all,
protecteth all that fly unto him in their tribulation : Ps. xxxiv. 6,
' This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of
all his troubles.' Prayers in cottages are as acceptable to him as
prayers in palaces.
[3.] When once you are received and admitted into this habitation,
you need not fear any calamity in the world, because none can endam-
age your spiritual interest, nor frustrate your great hopes. Whatever
become of the man, the Christian is safe. So that you may keep up
not only patience and constancy of mind, but joy of heart : Horn. viii.
38, ' Neither height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.'
Nothing shall be able to drive you out of your hiding-place. You lie
fairer for temporal safety than others do, and are more likely to have
it ; and if anything fall out otherwise than well, it shall be sanctified.
You have a God that is fully inclined to do you good ; and he hath
all-sufficient power, and hath engaged it by his infallible truth, to set it
a-work for you, so far as it shall be for his glory and your good. Why
then should you be afraid ? Take up your habitation in God, and you
are safe, especially as to your main interest
2. What it is, and in what manner this is done.
[1.] There must be a solemn reconciliation with God in Christ.
For we enter into God as an habitation, to seek our comfort, and
safety, and happiness in him, only by Christ ; for till sin be pardoned,
and God reconciled to the soul, what blessing or comfort can we expect
from him whose nature engageth him to loath us, and justice to punish
SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1. 187
us ? Man by sin is become an odious creature to the holy God : Hab.
i. 13, ' Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look
on iniquity.' And being an unthankful rebel, is liable to the process
of his revenging justice and severe punishment. Therefore when wrath
maketh inquisition for sinners, there is no hiding-place till found in
Christ : Phil. iii. 9, ' And be found in him, not having my own right-
ousness.' There must be an atonement, not only made, but applied,
before we can delight in God, and have comfortable communion with
him, or have any right to the blessings of his providence : Bom. v. 11,
' We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we
have received the atonement.' It is applied on God's part by the Spirit.
And 1 John iv. 13, ' Hereby know we that we are in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.' And on our part by broken
hearted, penitent, believing addresses to him, or by breaking off our
sins, and giving up ourselves to him in an everlasting covenant not to
be forgotten. This must be renewed as often as there is a breach on
our part, for all occasions of breach must be removed ; or when God is
executing judgment on his part, for then he seemeth to put the bond
in suit, which we must deprecate by flying humbly to the throne of
grace : Ps. Ivii. 1, ' In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge;'
Ps. Ixi. 4, ' I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever ; I will trust in the
covert of thy wings.' He joineth the wings of God with the tabernacle :
Ps. xxxvi. 7, 8, ' How excellent is thy loving-kindness, 0 God ! there
fore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy
wings; they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house.'
He speaketh of the goodness of God in his house.
[2.] There must be an actual dependence upon God, and trust in
him for what he hath provided and we stand in need of, or a firm ad
herence unto him according to his promise. It is dependence breedeth
observance. The soul that doth not trust in God cannot be true to
him. Faith and faithfulness are not so near akin in sound as they are
in nature. Nothing is more engaging than the great bond and tie of
our obedience : Ps. cxxiii. 2, ' Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto
the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of
her mistress ; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he
have mercy upon us ; ' Phil. ii. 12, 13, ' Work out your salvation with
fear and trembling ; for it is God that worketh in you to will and to
do of his own good pleasure.' Therefore is trust so often called for :
Ps. Ixii. 8, ' Trust in him at all times, ye people ; ' Ps. Ixxxvi. 2, ' Save
thy servant that trusteth in thee ; ' Isa. xxvi. 3, ' Thou wilt keep him
in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in
thee.' We are without distraction of mind and thoughts when we
refer all to the all-sufficient God, as being persuaded that he will cast
things for the best. See the application David maketh of that great
truth : Ps. xci. 1, 2, ' He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most
High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty : I will say of
the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God ; in him will I
trust.' You must keep up the thoughts of his goodness and all-
sufficiency.
[3.] There must be supplication and earnest fervent prayer for his
powerful and gracious protection. This is the acting of our trust, and God
188 SERMONS UPON PSALM XC. 1.
will have all blessings sought out this way, that we may take them imme
diately out of his hands : Jer. xxix. 11, 'Then shall ye call upon me,
and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you ; '
Ezek. xxxvi. 37, ' Yet for this will I be inquired of by the house of
Israel, to do it for them.' There faith is exercised, hope is declared,
desires are expressed in a solemn manner : Ps. Ixii. 8, ' Trust in him at
all times, ye people, pour out your hearts before him ; God is a refuge
for us, Selah.' It is a means to ease us of our cares and fears, and of
laying down our burden at God's feet, and it reviveth the sense of our
obligations.
[4.] Holy walking is necessary, because none can make a comfortable
claim to this privilege but those that are sincerely God's people. He
is their habitation. Others, whatever indulgence they have by God's
common providence, can have no certain hope or comfortable claim :
Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, Tor the Lord God is a sun and a shield, the Lord will
give grace and glory : no good thing will he withhold from them that
walk uprightly ; ' those that fear him, love him, choose him for their
portion. Others build castles in the air. They do not dwell in the
secret place of God that live in their sins, and yet lean upon the Lord.
By sin you run out of your dwelling-place and weaken your trust :
1 John iii. 21, ' Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we
confidence towards God.'
[5.] Constant communion with God : Job xxii. 21, ' Acquaint now
thyself with him, and be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee.'
We must not run to God as we run to a shelter, with a mind to depart
thence as soon as the storm ceaseth. Our habitation is a place of
constant residence. So we must make use of God not when we are in
straits only, to serve our turn, but abide and dwell in him as our
habitation.
SERMON UPON 1 TIMOTHY VI. 9.
But they that loill be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many
foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and
perdition. — 1 TIM. vi. 9.
IN these words we may observe —
1. The parties described, ' They that will be rich.'
2. Their danger ; represented in two things — (1.) That they lie
open to temptation ; (2.) Fall into a snare.
Some think it an hendiadys, et? ireipaa-iMov ical TrayiSa, for «? TrarylSa
Treipaa-ftov, the snare of temptation. But the considerations are dis
tinct, the one being a degree of the other. ' Temptation ' showeth how
the devil taketh them captive; 'snare/ how he keepeth or holdeth
them captive. So he that fixeth this as his purpose doth lay himself
open to the devil, yea, give up himself captive to him. Men are
first tempted, drawn to delight in or admire these things ; secondly,
snared, cannot get out of the entanglings of the world.
Now in the text, the general nature of this snare is represented. It
is lusts, sinful and unlawful affections and dispositions of heart.
(1.) The number or quantity of them, ' Many lusts.' (2.) The quality,
kind and sort of them, ' Foolish and hurtful lusts.' (3.) The result and
issue of them, ' Which drown men in destruction and perdition.' In
the main of which, Paul doth not speak of what doth often fall out,
but what doth constantly and necessarily fall out.
Doct, That a will to be rich is the occasion of much mischief to
those that cherish it and allow it in their own souls,
The point will be best opened by laying forth the circumstances of
the text.
I. What it is to have a will to be rich. When we make it our
scope and our work, our epyov. Mark, it is not he that is rich, but
he that will be rich. Kiches in themselves are God's gift, not the
cause of the evils mentioned ; but our love and lust to them, though a
man be otherwise poor, according to that of Peter, ' Corruption that is
in the world through lust/ 2 Peter i. 4. Here it is, ' They that will be
rich,' that fix it as their scope, that make it their business. For the
bent of the will is bewrayed by two things — intention and industrious
prosecution.
1. Those that fix it as their scope, are wholly intent upon getting
wealth, that give up their hearts to find out and follow after ways of
worldly increase. This is to set wealth in the place of God ; for
190 SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9.
that is interpretatively a man's god which is the last end of his actions,
and upon which his care, and thoughts, and endeavours do run most ;
whether it be belly, world, credit, friends, or whatever else : Phil. iii.
18, ' For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you
even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ; whose
end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in
their shame, who mind earthly things/ And then we can never act
regularly. Christ and religion will be taken up upon worldly ends
and advantages. All stoopeth to the chief end, religion, and con
science, and all, when we fix this as our intention and the designed
scope of our lives. It is elsewhere expressed : Prov. xxviii. 20, ' He
that rnaketh haste to be rich cannot be innocent.' A man that fixeth
this as his end will not care what means he useth, leap over hedge
and ditch, and cannot be content to travel the long road of providence
to come to his journey's end. There are many such, that will be rich,
whether God will or no, say what he will, and almost do what he can
to hinder them ; when their ways are shut up, not only by a com
mandment, but the hedge of God's providence : though disappointed
in their projects, yet they will through ; if they can take faith and a
good conscience along with them, they will ; but if not, they will be
rich without them.
2. Those that make it their epyov, their work and business in the
world : Prov. xxiii. 4, ' Labour not to be rich ; cease from thine own
wisdom.' Make themselves servants of mammon : Mat. vi. 24, ' We can
not serve God and mammon/ Both masters have work enough, and
their commands are contrary. When two consent to employ one man
in the same business and service, though two men, they are but one
master ; but to execute the wills of men that are different in their
designs, and have a several and full interest in our labours and actions,
this is as impossible as to move two contrary ways at once. This is
the case here. Mammon and Christ have full work for us, and their
designs are contrary. Our main work of right is to please God and
serve God. but our work by choice is to serve mammon. All our labour
and travail is to be rich, which cannot be without the prejudice a-nd
wrong of religion, which should have the pre-eminence ; Mat. vi. 33,
' First seek the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, and
these things shall be added/ Keligion cannot have all, because of our
bodily necessities ; but it must have the chiefest. But now, when the
strength of our endeavours runneth out another way, our hearts are
taken off from God and his service ; and so Hagar croweth it over
Sarah. That is a happy family where Sarah rules and Hagar serves ;
But alas ! usually it is otherwise. The lean kine devour the fat, and
religion goeth to the wall ; the world engrosseth men's time, and heads,
and hearts, that they are wholly taken off from better things, and the
edge of their affections is abated ; their time and heart diverted ; Prov.
xxiii. 4, ' Labour not to be rich/ Some translate it, Weary not thyself
to be rich ; as they that trouble their minds with it with too great eager
ness, they have no time nor heart for communion with God, and the
great necessities of their souls ; no time for God, no heart for God, and
so the most necessary work is jostled out of doors, viz., the one thing
necessary. They should first seek the kingdom of God, and they do
SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9. 191
not seek it at all ; at least not with that zeal and liveliness as they
should.
II. The danger is represented.
1. That they fall into temptation. The devil hath them upon the
hip, and is ready to give them a fall. Though a man's intentions
should be never so innocent at first, yet they lie obvious to a tempta
tion. Now we pray daily against temptation, therefore we should not
come into the mouth of it. Certainly he that will ride into the enemy's
camp and quarters cannot long be safe. When the mind is set upon the
getting of wealth, and enchanted with the savour of worldly greatness,
he runneth into the devil's quarters, and doth but bespeak a temptation,
for he is prepared and ready for every carnal suggestion. Many had
no thought at first to be so bad as afterward they prove, but they give
the devil an advantage. Judas loved the bag, John xii. 6, and then
Satan entered into him, and then he betrayed his master.
2. And a snare. The devil hath them where he would have them ;
he observeth which way the tree leaneth, and so presseth it downward.
While they are only liable to temptation, the devil is out of sight ;
but when they are caught in the snare, then he appeareth in his own
colours. Many think no harm at first ; but their hearts are set upon
the world, then tempted, and afterwards snared, and so deeply entangled,
that they know not how to get out again. As in uncleanness, many
have no impure thoughts at first, but they delight to be with women ;
whilst they play about the temptation, they are taken captive by Satan,
and after drawn into filthiness. So many would have a little more of
the world, that they may serve God without distraction, and if they
had but such a proportion, they would care for no more ; but if their
desires be granted, then they find themselves entangled, and their hearts
deceived ; and still they must have more and more, and so settle in a
worldly love and a worldly course. As a river, the greater it groweth
by receiving in little brooks, the wider and deeper it weareth the
channel ; so outward things, the more they increase, the more they
enlarge our desires according to their own proportion. This is an usual
experiment of the deceitfulness of riches ; men would be a little higher
in the world, a little better accommodated ; but when they have that,
they must have a little more, and then a little more ; and so seize on
all things within their grasp and reach, joining ' field to field, and house
to house,' Isa. v. 8. Then they are past the devil's temptation, and are
gotten into the devil's snare.
III. The danger is represented by the nature of the snare ; ' many
foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition and de
struction.'
1. The number, many lusts. There is none cometh unkindly to a
worldly heart : Titus iii. 3, ' Serving divers lusts and pleasures.' Quot
habet Dominos, quiunum habere non vult? — He that forsaketh the Lord,
and is given up to his own lusts, hath many masters to please ; some
times riot, sometimes pride, sometimes contempt of God, or oppression
of the poor. It is the opinion of some that there are several devils,
that have as it were their several wards and quarters ; as the heathens
had several gods, which were indeed devils : Bacchus, the god of riot
or good-fellowship ; Venus, a patroness of love and wantonness ; Mars,
192 SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9.
of revengeful angry spirits ; Mammon, of wealth. The devils have, as
it were, several quarters, some to humour the proud, or entice the wanton,
or draw men to drunkenness, as agents in taverns and tippling-houses,
others lay liegers about the revengeful. In the same heart sins take
the throne by turns. No lust cometh unwelcome to a carnal heart, as
the posture of their interests and temptations lieth. Yea, one lust
giveth way to another, as some weeds and vermin destroy others, and
devils go out by compact. But many evils are incident to the worldly ;
their heart is a rank soil, capable of any seed but that which is good,
which is soon choked there.
2. Their quality.
[1.] Foolish lusts. Every carnal man is a fool.
(1.) He is so in the judgment of God: Ps. xlix. 13, ' This their way
is folly.' And he will be so in the judgment of his own heart when he
is serious. In two cases a man is serious: when convinced by the
Spirit : 1 Cor. iii. 18, ' Let him become a fool that he may be wise.'
The first thing the Spirit of God doth is to show us our folly in forsaking
the fountain of living waters. A child of God, that recovereth out of
a temptation, is sensible of his folly : Ps. Ixxiii. 22, ' So foolish was I,
and ignorant ; ' Titus iii. 3, ' We ourselves also were sometimes foolish,
avcnjroi. When he cometh to die : ' Thou fool, this night shall thy
soul be required of thee,' Luke xii. 20. Then he finds himself a fool,
because everything is provided for but that which should be most pro
vided for, his precious soul : Jer. xvii. 11, ' At his end shall be a fool.'
Death bloweth away our vain conceits and fancies, for then our carnal
projects leave us in the dirt. How will you value the world when it
is parting from you and you parting from it ? When no hope of life,
0 vain deceitful world ! then you cry out, Train eyevoftrjv, teal ovSev
e!></>6i\eTo. What is all this to me, that am presently to leave all
things, and to appear before God ? Job xxvii. 8, ' What is the hope
of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his
soul ? ' Man in innocency was a wise creature, but then he hearkened
to the devil, and so became a fool.
(2.) He is so by plain demonstration in respect of his choice. A
wise merchant selleth all for the pearl of price, Mat. xiii., But these
part with heaven for trifles, prefer an apple or a rattle before a jewel.
Certainly they that prefer a particular good before a general, a temporal
before an eternal, that which is superfluous before that which is neces
sary, they are fools ; but so do all worldly and carnal men, therefore their
lusts are foolish lusts ; they that are careless in matters of greatest
danger, and make no provision for that world wherein we live longest ;
they that dig for iron with mattocks of gold, that forfeit their souls
for the world, that disquiet themselves for a vain show, Ps. xxxix. 6,
that neglect the substance to hunt after the shadow, that toil themselves
for they know not who. All these are points of folly.
[2.] Hurtful lusts. The hurt they do for the present concerneth
either the peaceable or gracious frame and estate of our souls.
(1.) Hurtful, as they destroy our peace : * They pierce through
themselves with many Sorrows,' ver. 10, and so macerate and waste
their strength. Who liveth the noble and comfortable life, above all
changes, but the heavenly-minded and mortified man ? But others,
SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9. 193
to what biting cares are they exposed ! How do they rack their spirits,
vex their brains, and weary their minds, and waste the body ! Ps.
cxxvii. 2, ' It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the
bread of sorrow ; ' and so but entangle themselves in a life of misery
and labours ; who fret at their own disappointments, are eaten up with
envy at the advancement of others, afflicted overmuch with losses and
wrongs. There is no end of all their labours. Some have died of it,
others been distracted and put out of their wits ; so that you are never
like to see good days as long as you cherish the love of the world, but
will still lie under self-tormenting care and trouble of mind, by which
a man grateth on his own flesh.
(2.) Hurtful as to grace. The spirit is debased by a carnal aim,
and made a slave to all sort of sins : ' The love of money is the root
of all evil/ ver. 10. Nothing breedeth baseness of mind so much as
the love of money. Those that make their belly their god are men of
an abject spirit ; such a person can never act with resolution. Yet of
the two the covetous is the more vile, and serveth the baser god:
Phil. iii. 19, ' Whose end is destruction ; whose god is their belly, and
whose glory is in their shame ; who mind earthly things/ For the
life and belly, for which food is necessary, are better than food ; and
yet food for the belly is the best part of riches, and that which alone
Adam in innocency stood in need of ; so that, serving so base a god,
they cannot but be of a base low spirit, and so can do nothing worthily
in their generation. To provide for the body above the soul is but to
overvalue the appendages of a worldly life.
3. The result and final tendency of these lusts : ' Which drown men
in destruction and perdition.' By destruction is meant death temporal ;
by perdition, death eternal : ruin in this world, and hereafter eternal
damnation ; drown men as with a millstone about their necks.
[1.] Destruction or ruin in this world. How many lose their lives
to have wherewith to live, and live poor that they may die rich ; others,
by aspiring projects, lose all their designed advantages, and come to
utter ruin. The love of the world brought Judas first to the halter,
and then to his own place.
[2.] Perdition or eternal damnation : Mat. xvi. 26, ' What is a
man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? '
The soul is lost, not in a natural sense, so as to be no more heard of,
but lost in a legal sense. A wicked man said, He that will not ven
ture his body is never valiant ; he that will not venture his soul,
never rich. But it is a sad venture to give the soul for a little tem
poral pelf, which we must leave we know not to whom.
Use 1. It informeth us of a twofold deceitfulness of heart that men
are conscious unto. The first is this, many think they will follow the
world as hard as they can for a while, and then dream of a devout
retirement. Thus foolishly do men presume, first upon life, and then
upon grace, both which are in God's hands ; whereas they shorten
their days by their inordinate cares, and entangle their hearts ; so that
they are over head and ears in the world, drowned in noisome and
hurtful lusts, that they cannot easily get out again. Alas ! the world
is a very deceitful thing ; if once we are taken in the love of it, more
and more it will get in with us, and steal away our hearts, ere we can
think of it.
VOL. XVIII. N
194 SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9.
2. The next deceit of the heart, akin to the former, is this, that if
men had such a proportion of estate, they should be content with
their portion, and serve God cheerfully. Alas ! when you have it, the
lust will grow with the possession. Covetousness is a fire that in-
creaseth the more wood you put thereon : Eccles. v. 10, ' He that
loveth silver will never be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth
abundance with increase.' And therefore we should rather seek to
bring our minds to our estates, than our estates to our minds. Be
content now with such things as ye have, or else ye will not be coa-
tent hereafter. Non augendce res, sed minuendce cupiditates — We
should not seek so much to increase our estates, as to abate our desires.
We go the wrong way when we think more estate would do it, if
grace doth not do it. As in some diseases, -non opus habent impletione,
sed purgatione ; a man is still hungry though he has eaten enough,
and still thirsty though drunk enough. As in the bulimy and dropsy,
purging is better than impletion ; in an ordinary fever we are not to
quench the burning thirst by filling the patient's belly full of drink,
but to better the heat by purging and opening a vein ; so it is not
wealth, but grace ; the way is not to increase our substance, but mode
rate our desires. As long as love terminateth on outward things, we
shall never be satisfied, but still exercised with foolish and hurtful
lusts. Contentment cometh not from the things, but the mind ; a
little grace would show us that we had enough already to be better
satisfied.
Use 2. This point will give us satisfaction as to that question,
whether -we may pray for and desire riches, or anything beyond food
and raiment ? I answer —
1. By distinction. Outward things are either necessary, or sufficient,
or superfluous. The first degree of riches is to have what is neces
sary ; the next to have what is enough ; the next above that, what is
more than enough.
[1.] Necessary. Necessity is either natural, civil, or religious.
(1.) Natural ; that which will barely suffice nature, and support
life, though meanly, hardly. These necessities are easily supplied.
Though our fare be hard and our raiment coarse, yet we may make a
hard shift to preserve life. This certainly we may desire and labour
after ; for every man must maintain himself as an instrument of
providence, and to see that he be not chargeable to others ; and if, in
a fair way of providence, we can get no more, we must be content :
ver. 8, 'Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.'
Though we be but a degree above beggary and extreme want, it is
more than God owes us, and it is enough to sustain life whilst we lay
a foundation for eternity.
(2.) Civil. Two things are here to be considered — (1.) Our estate
and calling. An honourable calling requireth a fuller supply of tem
poral blessings than a private and inferior ; a king than a subject ; a
nobleman than one of an inferior rank. Though quoad necessitates
natures they are equal, yet quoad decentiam status they are unequal :
Prov. xxx. 8, ' Give me neither poverty nor riches ; feed me with food
convenient for me.' (2.) Our charge. A master of a family requireth
more than a single person ; he hath more to provide for, viz., wife and
SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9. 195
children : 1 Tim. v. 8, ' If any provide not for his own, and specially
for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than
an infidel ; ' 2 Cor. xii. 14, ' Behold, the third time I am ready to come
to you, and I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours,
but you : for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but
the parents for the children ; ' Prov. xiii. 22, ' A good man leaveth an
inheritance to his children's children." Jacob : Gen. xxx. 30, ' When
shall I provide for mine own house also ? ' Solomon complaineth :
Eccles. iv. 8, 'There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he
hath neither child nor brother, yet is there no end of all his labour,
neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither saith he, For whom do
I labour, and bereave my soul of food ? This is also vanity, yea, it is
a sore travail.'
(3.) Moral. For life, not lust; to cure infirmities, not to cause
them" ; to sustain nature, not to pamper it. Many pretend they seek
a conveniency, to be without want ; but it is to fare deliciously every
day, to flaunt in pride, to be built up a story higher in the world.
This is not conveniency, but covetousness. Nature is content with a
little, Christ fed a multitude with barley loaves and a few fishes, and
gave thanks, John vi. 11, with 23. We may provide for our neces
sities, present, future. That is reputed necessary which in some short
time may have some present use. And therefore, though a man
should be content, though after the use of means God giveth him
only from hand to mouth, yet he may seek a competency for their
relief that survive after he is dead ; he may ask it of God with sub
mission to his will. The sluggard is sent, Prov. vi. 6, to the ant, that
gathereth her meat in summer, and food in the harvest ; and Prov.
xiii. 22, ' A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children.'
A supply of all visible necessities we may ask of God, though without
carking and distrust. Hitherto we have spoken but of bare necessity,
either for supply of nature, or maintaining that good state wherein
God hath set us ; that which is necessary to support nature, or our
vocation and charge, and nothing to spare.
[2.] Sufficient. And that we are said to have when we have some
reasonable plenty ; not only slender provisions, wherewith to hold life
and soul together, but may be helpful to others, and are in a capacity
to give rather than to receive. This sufficiency may be asked of God,
though it be more than bare necessity. For it is a condition more
happy than that of want : Acts xx. 35, ' It is more blessed to give
than to receive.' And maketh a man more diffusively useful in his
generation, both for the advancing of public good and the relief of
private necessities : Eph. iv. 28, ' Let him that stole steal no more, but
rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good,
that he may have to give to him that needeth.' We are often pressed
to works of mercy ; and though it bindeth the poor only in affection
and disposition of mind, yet the acting of this grace is very comfort
able; and therefore this sufficiency and convenient plenty may be
asked, so it be with moderation ; and this sufficiency be judged, not
by the affection of the covetous, but the moderate and sober rate of
Christian desires, and rather referred to God than determined by our
selves. As Agur desires God to carve out his allowance, not prescrib-
196 SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9.
ing a measure to him, but that which he knoweth to be meet and
necessary for us ; cast yourselves upon God's allowance. And if it be
asked with submission ; for it is a temporal promise : Deut. xxviii. 11,
' The Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body,
and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the
land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.' The will
to be rich that is here condemned is an obstinate and unsubmissive
will.
[3.] Abundance is more than is fit for his place and calling, or than,
he can and will employ for good uses ; or without which the life of a
man, or his good estate and service in the world, may be well preserved.
The desire of worldly greatness cometh from lust, or eager affection to
worldly things. Men would shine alone : Isa. v. 8, ' Woe unto them
that join house to house, and lay field to field, till there be no place,
that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth.' And
argueth diffidence in the providence of God. They would have
wherewith to subsist without him. And is contrary to the laws of
Christian moderation. The king was not to multiply horses, and gold,
and silver, Deut. xvii. 16, 17 ; whereas our desire of estate must pro
ceed not from a love of riches, or to make us and ours great, but a
conscience of our duty to God, that we may be useful and serviceable ;
and must be kept within bounds, and ever must we maintain our
confidence in him.
2. I answer in these propositions —
[1.] We can lawfully desire no more than we can pray for ; for it
is a certain rule that those desires and workings of spirit are unlawful,
which we dare not express to God in prayer. If we must be modest
in our prayers, we should be as modest in our desires and aims. Would
we say, Food and raiment is not enough ; we must have a fuller estate;
so much coming in by the year ; such portions for our children ; they
must be maintained at such a rate, &c. ? Durst we fill our censers with
such dross and dung as this is? Why then do we cherish such thoughts
and desires in our hearts ? Prayer is but an empty compliment unless
it express our desires.
[2.] The prayers of God's children are always modest, and suited to
their trust and great hopes. So it was with Agur : Prov. xxx. 7, 8,
' Two things have I required of thee ; deny me them -not before I die.
Eemove far from me vanity and lies ; give me neither poverty nor
riches; feed me with food convenient for me.' And Jacob: Gen.
xxviii. 20, ' Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and
will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and
raiment to put on,' &c. Carnal wretches prescribe God a task which
he never meaneth to perform : Ps. Ixxviii. 18, ' They tempted God in
their hearts by asking meat for their lust.'
[3.] The reality of this modesty in prayer concerning outward
supplies is evidenced by the frame of our hearts and the course of our
actions.
(1.) The frame of our hearts is seen both in the want and in the
enjoyment of our outward things.
(1st.) In the want of them. If we be content with God's allowance,
who hath determined to every man the course of his service, and the
SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9. 197
bounds of his habitation, Acts xvii. 26 ; how much of the world every
one shall enjoy, what land, what estate ; you are content with what
you have, Heb. xiii. 5. If our portion be more strait than others, it is
what God hath allotted to us. If we be kept poor and low, we shall
have enough for that service and honour that God expecteth from us,
and to carry us through that little time that we have to spend in the
world. It is not abundance that we need, but a contented heart. Be
contented with a little, if God giveth no more. Diseased persons need
more attendance than the healthy. It is our disease multiplieth our
necessities.
(2<i) In the enjoyment of outward things. If they come by God's
providence, the heart must be guarded ; it must not be set upon them :
Ps. Ixii. 10, ' If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.' We
may delight in them as they are our portion, as tokens from God, and
fruits of his bounty : Deut. xxvi. 11, ' Thou shalt rejoice in every good
thing which the Lord thy God giveth thee.' But they must not
possess and take up our hearts so as to cause us to forget God, and
to make us raven after more ; and the lust riseth with the increase,
and so the heart is the more entangled.
(2.) The course of our actions in getting and using.
(1st.) In getting. When we are not immoderate in labouring after
them ; when men toil and labour to load themselves with thick clay,
Hab. ii. 6. They promise themselves much contentment and happi
ness ; but it doth but draw off the heart from God, and burden and
pollute the sinner : Ps. cxxvii. 2, ' It is vain for you to rise up early,
to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrow ; ' Hab. ii. 13, ' Behold, is it
not of the Lord of hosts, that the people shall labour in the very fire,
and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity ? '
(2d) In using. Eiches in themselves considered are neither good
nor evil ; all is as they are used. We are to use them as instruments
of piety and charity, and for the furtherance of our great account ; so
that it is not wealth so much that we beg, as a blessing upon our
labours, that we may have wherewith to serve God. We must so use
and possess what we have as that the use and possession may tend to
God's glory and the good of our souls. As —
(1st.) The maintenance of our own good estate and condition :
Eccles. v. 18, ' It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to
enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the
days of 'his life which God giveth him, for it is his portion.' It is God's
allowance, that we should live comfortably upon what he hath sent us ;
yea, not only his allowance, but his gift : ver. 19, ' Every man also, to
whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power
to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour, this
is the gift of God.'
(2d.) The good of others that depend upon us ; as our family and
kindred, 1 Tim. v. 8, ' That they may not be burdensome to the
church.'
(3d.) The relief of the poor : Eph. iv. 28, ' Let him that stole steal
no more ; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the
thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.'
We shall be no losers by that : Prov. xi. 24, ' There is that scattereth
198 SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9.
and yet increaseth ;' John vi. 13, ' Therefore they gathered them to
gether, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley
loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten/
(4th.) The maintenance of true religion and the church of God :
Prov. iii. 9, ' Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-
fruits of thy increase.'
(5th.) Good of the commonwealth : Rom. xiii. 7, ' Bender therefore
to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom
custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour ; ' and Mat. xxii.
21, ' Render to Ca3sar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the
things which are God's.'
Thus is a man tried, when he hath an estate, how he useth it. A
leaky vessel is not discerned when it is empty; but when it is full, then
it discovereth itself. So when we are kept low, there is not such a
trial of our spirits as when we abound in all things, how we will use
and improve this trial, what we discover then, grace or corruption.
Want is a trial, and so is fulness ; and therefore we should look to
ourselves. If self be ravenous, and devour all that portion which God
should have, and the poor should have, and friends should have, we
do not use it aright, not to the ends for which God hath given it.
Use 3. To press us to mortify this inordinate inclination. If once
men affect and love riches, it becometh the root of all evil. It is not
the having, but the affecting of great things, that is sinful. What
God casteth upon us, walking within the compass of our duty, we are
with thankfulness to embrace, and to improve to his glory. Yet this
inordinate desire is very natural to us, born and bred with us ; and
because riches do all in the world, it is increased upon us. Therefore
we need the more to look to our hearts and consider —
1. The comfort of our lives lieth not in abundance : Luke xii. 15,
' Take heed, and beware of covetousness ; for a man's life consisteth
not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.' They are
extrinsical to our being and happiness. When you have the world at
will, you can get no more than bodily food and bodily clothing ; the
poorest may attain to that. It is no great matter whether our dung
and excrement be of finer matter or coarser, nor what a gay show we
make in our apparel, whether fewer or more dishes at our table. Too
much oil puts out the lamp. When men have troubled themselves
and the world to make themselves great, what a sorry happiness have
they ! Ps. xvii. 14, ' From men which are thy hand, 0 Lord, from men
of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly
thou fillest with thy hid treasure ; they are full of children, and leave
the rest of their substance to their babes ; ' Hab. i. 16, ' They sacrifice
unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag, because by them
their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.' A little good cheer
and a merry life is all they have. They that want it live as well as
they, and have more contentment ; they are no nearer to true comfort,
nor the further from the grave.
2. There is danger in abundance. The moon is never eclipsed but
when it is at full. An estate may be too great, as a shoe too big, or
armour too great, as Saul's armour for David, 1 Sam. xvii. 39. It is
harder for a rich man to go to heaven : Mat. xix. 24, ' It is easier for
SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9. 199
a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God.' A moderate estate is freest from tempta
tions.- Abundance of all things, without any want, disposeth to a for-
getfulness of God ; as perpetual want, without any taste of God's good
ness, on the other side, disposeth the soul to atheism, which are the
two extremes, whereof the one starveth religion, the other choketh it.
The middle sort of men carry away heaven and graces, while others
disregard God. Both poverty and riches, in the extremities, have their
temptations ; the middle estate is freest from danger, both of sin and
misery. Fertile ground is apt to breed weeds. Oh ! that men would
often think of the worthlessness and insufficiency of worldly things ! I
shall not be more safe, nor happy, nor acceptable to God, nor more
comfortable in myself. It is grace does all in poverty and riches ; arid
so all men are upon the same level : James i. 9, 10, ' Let the brother
of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted ; but the rich in that he is
made low.'
3. Greater estates lie open to greater cares and troubles : Eccles. v.
11, ' When goods increase they are increased that eat them ; and what
good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with
their eyes ? ' True they have more attendance ; but then more pro
vision is required for them. The charge of family and retinue will
increase likewise ; there are more bellies to be filled, more backs to be
clothed ; in that which is real, others have their comforts as well as he.
4. Greater estates must give greater accounts. We are God's
stewards, and we must give an account of our stewardship, Luke xvi.
2. You do but seek a greater trust, and you cannot discharge that you
have already : Luke xii. 48, ' Unto whomsoever much is given, of him
shall be much required ; and to whom men have committed much, of
him they will ask the more.' We must give an account for more time,
more opportunities to do good ; the more mercy, the more plenty ;
there is a greater reckoning to make.
5. When we come to die, it is not the possession, but the use will
comfort us. We can carry nothing with us into the other world, but
the comfort of a good conscience : Eccles. v. 15, ' As he came forth of
his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall
take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.'
Kiches cannot go with us into the other world. A godly man can
carry his happiness with him, which another leaveth behind him. A
worldly, wealthy man hath made his will, and left all his estate ; to such
a son such an inheritance, to such a daughter such a portion, to such a
friend such a legacy : what hath the poor man left for himself? If he
hath not grace, what hath he left to carry with him but the anguish
and misery of a guilty conscience, and the expectation of worse to
come ? 0 poor miserable creature ! when all things take their
leave, what a sorry comfort will that be that he hath once possessed!
but if he hath used it well, their works follow them : Luke xvi. 9,
' Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that
when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.'
Well, then, use diversion.
[1.] Let your desires be set on other blessings. I must and will have
grace. Pitch your desires on the great blessings of the covenant. I
200 SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9.
must and will have grace and heaven. Valde protestatus sum, saith
Luther, me nolle sic a Deo satiari: Ps. cvi. 45, 'Remember me, O
Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people ; 0 visit me
with thy salvation, that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may
rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine
inheritance.' Give me the favour of thy people. There is no danger,
nor no snare in that. I will not be put off with other things : ' Who
soever will, let him take the water of life freely,' Rev. xxii. 17. All
our business with you is to bring you to this resolute bent of heart as
to your spiritual and eternal enjoyments. These are the blessings of
his people. Christ gave his Spirit to the faithful apostles, and his
purse to Judas. As Jacob would take no nay, he must have the
blessing ; so a Christian, Lord, I must have Christ, and I must have
faith. This is holy impudence : Luke xi. 8, Sia rrjv avaibeiav,
' Though he will not rise, and give him, because he is his friend ; yet
because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he
needeth.'
[2.] Choose other business. One that maketh it his business to go to
heaven, and to serve and please God, will not so easily be surprised by
the love of the world ; he will measure himself by thriving in grace,
not in estate : Ps. cxix. 14, ' I have rejoiced in the way of thy testi
monies, as much as in all riches.' Every man is as his business is :
John vi. 27, ' Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that
meat which endureth unto everlasting life ; ' 1 Tim. iv. 7, ' Exercise
thyself unto godliness.' The main business of your life is for earth or
heaven, to please God or to get the world ; which way is your labour
and care carried out ? You should be most careful to get God's love,
and work out your salvation.
Use 4. To observe and examine whether this disposition be in us,
yea or no. This will be known — (1.) By the frequency of your
thoughts ; (2.) By the vehemency of your desires ; (3.) By the drift
and course of your lives.
1. By the working of the thoughts and debates of the heart. If
the heart be still exercised with covetous projects, if you have your
wits set a-work how to get in more, this shows you would be rich.
Thoughts are the genuine issue and birth of the soul, and do discover
the temper of it. When their minds do run only upon earthly things :
Phil. iii. 19, ' Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and
whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.' Such a pro
ject and course of gain, James iv. 13, and that with a savour and
sweetness. Still catering and contriving, not how to grow good and
gracious, but great and high in the world. The worldling in the
gospel is brought in musing : Luke xii. 17, 18, ' And he thought
within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where
to bestow my fruits ? And he said, This will I do, I will pull down
my barns, and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits
and goods.' I will do thus and thus, teal SieXoyi^ero, verbum mire
appositum, saith Beza. For a worldly man is always framing dialogues
within himself, and asking and answering his soul ; and his heart is so
encumbered with these thoughts that he cannot get it off in holy duties :
Ezek. xxxiii. 31, ' They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they
sit before thee as thy people, and they hear thy words, bat they will
SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9. 201
not do them ; for with their mouth they will show much love, but their
heart goeth after their covetousness.' Other sins distract us in duty,
but- none so often as this, by vain musings upon worldly advantages j
this always runneth in the mind night and day when alone.
2. By the vehemency of your desires. Unnatural predatorious
heats argue a distemper. We may lawfully desire earthly things ; we
carry about earthly bodies, that stand in need of earthly sustentation.
We have an earthly house to support, 2 Cor. v. 1, and are subject to
the common necessities of an earthly life ; and therefore surely God,
that hath given us these earthly bodies, doth allow us to seek earthly
things in a moderate way. But now when these desires are so vehement,
that they grow to a perturbation and impatiency of check, they argue
this immodest will to be rich. Rachel might lawfully have desired
children ; but when it cometh to, ' Give me children, or I die,' then the
desire is depraved and inordinate. So when we are disquieted by our
desires, and are full of murmurings if we want, and of envious repining
at those that have worldly things, and they always solicit us to more,
and one degree of estate draweth us on to more, it is an evil disease,
and it must be looked to in time, or else it will be baneful to the soul.
Then you are gainthirsty, as the expression is, Ps. x., when there is
such an eager pursuit after it, and you are so greedy upon worldly
things. Desires are but vigorous motions of the will, and do discover
the bent and purpose of it. They are the pulses of the soul. As
physicians judge by appetite, so may you by desires ; when the soul is
carried out by such an unsatisfitd thirst, and like the horse-leech's
daughter, crieth, ' Give, give/ Prov. xxx. God's people, as an argument
of their sincerity, plead their desires, and the longings of their souls
after God : ' Our desires are to the remembrance of thy name.' . Now
your desires run another way, and still they increase upon you with
your enjoyments.
3. By the uniformity and constancy of your endeavours. A serious,
choice and bent of will is always accompanied with invincible resolu
tions ; they will use all means, and break through all difficulties ; wit,
and time, and strength is all engaged upon this design, that you may
compass an estate. That argueth the fixed bent of their heart : Luke
xvi. 8, ' The children of this world are wiser in their generation than
the children of light.' By wisdom in their generation is meant a
dexterous prosecution of their ends and purposes. Now, when men
are dull, and slow, and backward in holy things, but their whole souls
run out upon temporal profits, it is the sphere of their activity, and
the business that their hearts are set upon ; here men turn and wind,
and try every course, and so it is constantly with them. A good man
is unwearied and diligent in the pursuit of heavenly things : Phil. iii.
11, 'If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.'
He goeth from this ordinance to that, and is ever waiting upon God,
and is sagacious to spy out advantages of spiritual increase ; this is the
sphere of his activity ; he is conferring, praying, reading, hearing,
meditating. But now a worldly man is always exercised in covetous
practices : 2 Peter ii. 14, ' Having eyes full of adultery, and that
cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have
exercised with covetous practices.' What a stir and a bustle do they
make to increase their estates ! They have the spirit of the world.
SERMON UPON I PETER L 12.
Which things the angels desire to look into. — 1 PETER i. 12.
THERE are two things for which the doctrine of the gospel is com
mended to us — the truth and the worth of it : 1 Tim. i. 15, verum et
bonum, ' This is a true and faithful saying, and worthy of all accepta
tion.' The happiness of the intellect lieth in the contemplation of truth,
and the happiness of the will in the enjoyment of good. In innocency
this was represented by the tree of life and the free of knowledge, and
possibly under the law by the candlestick and the table of showbread.
I shall not now speak of the truth of the gospel, but of the worth of it
The scope of the context is to show the worth of that salvation which
is the end of the Christian faith. To commend it the apostle produceth
the instance of the prophets and of the angels.
1. -Of the prophets : ver. 10-12, ' Of which salvation the prophets
have inquired, and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace
that should come unto you : searching what, or what manner of time,
the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they
did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that
have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven.' When the prophets foretold it, they viewed and reviewed
their own prophecies, that they might be more thoroughly acquainted
both with the thing and the time. They prophesied of other things,
the rise and downfall of great and mighty monarchies and kingdoms ;
but these were not the things they inquired after so diligently, but the
sufferings of Christ, and the glory which shall come to us. Well,
then, if those to whom the Holy Ghost did dictate these mysteries did
so accurately search into them, what should we delight in and study
upon but the gospel ?
2. Angels themselves did look into the excellency of this grace and
salvation offered to us in Christ ; they can never be satisfied with
the contemplation of it, nor wonder at it enough ; nor rejoice at it
enough : ' Which things the angels desire to look into.' TiapaKv^rai
signifieth to bow the head and stoop that we may take a more narrow
view of the thing which we would see : Luke xxiv. 12, ' Peter ran unto
the sepulchre, and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes lying
SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12. 203
by themselves.' So John xx. 5, real TrapaKvtyas /BXeTrei Keipeva TO,
odovia, ' And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes
lying;' and in the llth verse, Mary Trapeicv^rev €19 TO jjivrj^flov ; we
render it, ' She stooped down and looked into the sepulchre.' And
probably there is an allusion to the type of the two cherubims over
the mercy-seat, which were figured bending their faces towards it :
Exod. xxv. 20, ' Their faces shall look one to another ; toward the
mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.' As desiring to pry
into the mysteries represented there.
Doct, That the mystery of redemption by Christ is an object worthy
of the contemplation and admiration of the angels themselves.
I shall illustrate this argument by examining these circumstances —
(1.) Who; (2.) What; (3.) How; (4.) Why.
I. Who desired? The text saith, 'the angels.' There are two
sorts of them, some good and some bad ; some that fell away, and
stood not in the truth, others that are called ' the elect angels,' 1 Tim.
v. 21. Now which of these are we to understand? Not the evil
angels to be sure, for since the fall they are called devils, not angels
singly, without a note of distinction. This was an holy desire of an
holy object, of which those damned spirits are not capable. It is a
burden to them to think of God and Christ ; they abhor their own
thoughts of God : James ii. 19, ' The devils also believe and tremble.'
And Christ's presence was a torment to them: Mat. viii. 29, 'What
have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of God ? art thou come to
torment us before the time ? ' They cannot please themselves, nor
find such a delight and full satisfaction in the view of these truths.
Therefore it is meant of those good angels that behold the face of God
and minister in his presence ; they are beholding, wondering, and
rejoicing at the mysteries of the gospel. There are two kinds of crea
tures made after the likeness of God — angels and men ; and they are
seated and placed in vthe two extremities of the world ; the one in
heaven, and the other on earth, in the highest and lowest story of the
universe, that at both ends of the creation there might be some to
glorify him and acknowledge his excellencies. Alas ! here with us in
the lower part of the world, how few take notice of the glorious dis
coveries of God in any of his works, especially in the work of redemption !
so that all God's preparations and expenses seem lost, as to the honour
and service which he might justly expect from us. But there is
another world, where this mystery, that is so little regarded here,
is more thought of, and better studied ; even by the blessed angels,
creatures more excellent and more numerous than mankind, who are
always glorifying God, and admiring his excellencies upon this account.
As we behold the sun that shineth to us from their part of the world,
so do they behold the sun of righteousness from our part of the world,
even Jesus Christ the Lord, in all the acts of his mediation : 1 Tim.
iii. 16, ' Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness ; God
was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels;' that
is, beheld with wonder and reverence. God needeth not to court us
with such importunity ; he hath creatures enough to glorify him, ten
thousand times ten thousand angels, that stand before his throne, and
know more of God than we do, and are more ready to praise him.
204 SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12.
II. What ? The text telleth us, ' which things ; ' that is, those
things spoken of in the context.
1. The person of the Kedeemer, the most glorious object that can
be looked upon, or taken into the thoughts of any creature. The vi&w
of this is now our comfort, and will be our happiness to all eternity :
John xvii. 24, ' Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me be
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast
given me.' When we are in heaven, on the other side of the world,
that will be our work and our happiness ; but it must not be wholly
omitted here. So the angels delight in the person of the Kedeemer ;
it is their rejoicing to look upon Christ, in whom the glory of God
shineth forth more admirably than in any other of his works. Yea, I
shall go one strain higher ; God himself delighteth in looking upon
Christ : Prov. viii. 30, ' There was I by him, as one brought up with
him ; I was daily his delight.' In the Hebrew it is ' day, day,' one
day after another. God never satisfieth himself enough in this. Yea,
God delighteth in Christ as mediator: Mat. iii. 17, 'This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;' Isa. xlii. 1, 'Behold my
servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.'
It is the ground of his gracious aspect upon us as holy. He delighted
in all his works, and was refreshed at the view of them : Gen. i. 31r
* And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very
good ; ' compared with Exod. xxxi. 17, ' In six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'
Well, then, this is one thing which the angels look upon, the person
of Christ, the most lovely object to be thought of, figured in the mercy-
seat or cover of the ark, who interposed between the law and God.
Christ is called l\a<TTijpiov, ' the propitiation,' that is, Christ incarnate.
2. The way of redemption : ver. 11, ' The sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow.' And therein the sweet harmony and
concord between infinite mercy and infinite justice, that both might
have full satisfaction. This is figured in the mercy-seat, God's recon
ciling himself to man by Christ : Bom. iii. 24-26, ' Being justified freely
by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness, for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus.'
3. Another thing spoken of in the context is, ' The grace that should
come to us,' ver. 10, God's keeping familiar correspondence and com
munion with poor creatures in and through Christ : 1 John i. 3>
* And truly our communion is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus
Christ.' The dwelling of our nature with God in a personal union, a
thing which angels may wonder at, since God abaseth himself to
behold things in heaven or things on earth : Ps. cxiii. 6, ' Who
humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the
earth.' His majesty and all-sufficiency is so great, that he might justly
despise the angels, of whom he standeth in no need. Now, that he
should stoop so low as to look after poor crawling worms, and admit
them to such intimacy with himself, this commerce between God and
SEBMON UPON I PETER I. 12. 205
the inhabitants of the lower world is matter of wondrous delight
to the angels.
4.' The mission of the Spirit, here just before the text, ' The Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven ; ' and then presently it followeth,
' Which things the angels desire to look into/ viz., the copious effusion
of gospel grace. Before the price was paid, when God gave out
grace upon trust, it was more sparingly dispensed, but now more
plentifully since the price of redemption is actually paid. The angels
are ascending and descending, present with the churches in their holy
worship. When the Spirit was first poured out, the men that were
conscious to it were all surprised with wonder : Acts ii. 7, ' They were
all amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all
these that speak Galileans?' And surely the angels see cause to
glorify God for his gifts and graces bestowed on the church. It
was done in the sight of angels : Eph. iv. 8, ' When he ascended on
high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men ; ' compared
with Col. ii. 15, 'And having spoiled principalities and powers, he
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.'
5. The gracious providences of God in leading on the church to
their eternal happiness : Eph. iii. 10, ' To the intent that now, unto
the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by
the church the manifold wisdom of God/ 7ro\v7r6iKt\o$ a-o^ia ;
that curious variety and interweavings of providence in bringing poor
creatures to glory. When we are on the top of the mount, and we
shall know as we are known, then shall we see how variously he did
confound the wisdom of men and devils, and led the saints to
glory. The angels see more of God in this than in any of his other
works; the state of the church here upon earth is the great glass
wherein God discovereth his wisdom, power, goodness, and truth.
6. The final glorious estate of the saints. Christ shall be admired
in them : 2 Thes. i. 10, ' When he shall come to be glorified in his
saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.' For poor dust to
shine as stars, and to be admitted with Christ to judge the world,
even evil angels. All men shall be at last owned or disowned by
Christ, confessed or denied before the angels, as those that look after
these things : Luke xii. 8, 9, ' Whosoever shall confess me before
men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of
God ; but he that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the
angels of God ; ' Kev. iii. 5, ' I will confess his name before my Father,
and his angels/ We may admire at these things : 1 John iii. 1, 2,
' Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God. Behold, now we are the sons
of God ; and it doth not appear what we shall be, but we know that
when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is/
III. The manner how ? 'Eiridv/JLovcnv Trapavutyai, they desire to
look into.
1. It noteth an accurate inspection, to look towards, so as to look
through. They understand more of these mysteries than we do,
having no mass of flesh to clog them, and obstruct the operations of
these spirits ; as having no secular vanities to divert them, as being so
near God, so entirely loving him ; because of the excellency of their
206 SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12.
natures they have more advantage than we ; as the world wherein we
dwell is more known to them than to us, yet they are prying; and
should not we ' follow on to know the Lord ? ' Hosea vi. 3.
2. It is earnest and affectionate, €7ri0v/j,ova-iv ; they desire; their
hearts are in it.
Object. Desire argueth a defect, and the angels, that are in the pre
sence of God, are in statu perfecto, in a perfect state.
Ans. 1. In many things this mystery exceedeth their understand
ings, therefore they desire to know it more and more. There is in the
angels understanding, and knowledge natural, supernatural, and experi
mental. Their natural knowledge reacheth to things that are belong
ing to the perfection and happiness of their nature. In supernatural
things, that depend upon the mere favour of God, angels know no
more than God is pleased to manifest to them, and so are ignorant
of those things which God will not reveal, and cannot be found out by
any created understanding. Their experimental knowledge is by the
accomplishment of prophecies, and what is foretold concerning the
state of the church here upon earth ; as Christ ' learned obedience by
the things he suffered/ Heb v. 8, so might angels learn more
when they saw Christ born, die, and rise again, the Spirit poured out,
the devil dispossessed, the gospel kingdom erected.
2. Some defects are perfective ; as hungering and thirsting after
righteousness proveth blessedness : Mat. v. 6, ' Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.' As
Gregory, Et satiantur, et sitiunt ; ne enim sit in desiderio anxietas,
desiderantes satiantur; ne sit in satietate fastidium, satiati desiderant.
They are satisfied with what they desire, to prevent anxiety and
trouble ; and they desire that with which they are satisfied, to prevent
satiety and loathing. It is a sweet thirst, not a painful dissatisfaction;
such as quickens, but not pains. Desire is an act of love ; the object
of it is dear and esteemed. So the angels, they are desiring and enjoy
ing. Sitientes satiabimur, et satiati sitiemus ; as in heaven the saints
desire more of God, because they are not weary of him.
3. They look upon it so as to be ready to discharge their ministry
about it. As the cherubims were figured with outstretched wings
over the mercy-seat, as ready to be employed in God's errand, so the
angels look into these things. We find them ever ministering about
Christ in his temptations and agonies, in his grave and at his ascension ;
so are they ministering about the saints, whom these things do concern :
Eeb. i. 14, ' Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? ' The angels do so look
into the things purchased for us by Christ, that they are helpful to u&
in them, according to the will of God.
IV. The reasons.
1. Negatively.
[1.] Not curiosity ; that cannot be imagined in these blessed spirits.
Now curiosity is either — (1.) In the matter, when we pry into secret
things, which we cannot, nor ought we to see into : Col. ii. 18,
' Intruding into those things which he hath not seen ; ' those things
wherein the mind of God is not known or understood. But God
revealed himself to the angels concerning the salvation of man, they
SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12. 207
being so often employed in the prediction and discovery of those things
that concerned the coming of Christ and salvation by him. They
were the messengers to carry the glad tidings of it to the patriarchs
and prophets. Gabriel informed Daniel, and talked with him concern
ing the seventy weeks, Dan. ix. 21-24, after which the Messiah
should be cut off. God used their ministry to instruct the church in
all the acts of his mediation. The angels comforted Christ in his
temptations and agonies ; the angels brought news of his birth : Luke
ii. 10, ' And the angel said unto them, Fear not ; I bring you good
tidings,' &c. When tempted, they ministered to him : Mat. iv. 11,
' Then the devil leaveth him, and behold angels came and ministered
to him/ In his agonies they strengthen him : Luke xxii. 43, ' There
appeared an angel to him from heaven, strengthening him.' When
he was buried, and in his grave, they rolled away the stone : Mat.'
xxviii. 2, ' The angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and rolled
back the stone from the door.' Where he lay in the sepulchre, ' there
were two angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, and the other at
the feet, where the body of Jesus had been,' John xx. 12. At his
ascension, Acts i. 10, 11, ' Two men stood by them in white apparel,
which also said, Ye men of Galilee ! why stand ye gazing up into
heaven ? ' &c. Therefore this was not a thing which God would keep
secret from them. What the church knoweth the angels know in
some measure. Or (2.) In the end, only to know. They did not
know merely that they might know. To know that we may be know
ing1 is arrogancy ; to know that we may gain by our knowledge is
covetousness and self-seeking ; to know that we may know is curiosity ;
but to know that we may adore and worship God, this is religion and
godliness. This was their end, that they might the more admire God
in the discoveries of himself to the creatures.
[2.] Not total ignorance of this mystery before it was brought about.
They had some knowledge of it ; but now to their natural and super
natural knowledge there is added experimental knowledge, which is
daily increased in them.
2. Affirmatively.
[1.] They have such a deep sense of the worth of these things that
they desire to know more : Eph. iii. 10, ' To the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the
church the manifold wisdom of God.' By ' principalities and powers'
are meant angels, so called because Godmaketh use of them in govern
ing the world, and because of their great power and strength. By
principalities and powers ' in heavenly places' are meant good angels.
Now these glorious creatures see more of the wisdom of God by his
gracious dispensations to the church ; they improve and come to a more
full knowledge by observing and looking unto the tenor of the gospel,
and the providences that do accompany it ; though their present state
of happiness doth give them full satisfaction for the time, yet it is
capable of some additions, and shall be perfected more fully at the
last day, when the torments of the fallen angels are also full : 2 Peter
ii. 4, ' God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto
judgment.' It is true they are in termino, not in via ; there can be
1 Qu. ' known ' ?— ED.
208 SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12.
no change of their state ; yet as to the degree they have not their full
happiness till then. There are some things in this mystery which
they know not ; it is a deep treasure of wisdom, and the angels cannot
see to the bottom of it.
[2.] In other things which they know they delight themselves in the
view of them. It is a sweet and comfortable speculation, with the
thoughts of which their hearts are ravished. They desire to look into
these things out of the delight which they take therein.
But why do the angels so much delight in the mystery of redemp
tion. (1.) Because of the glory of God discovered therein. (2.) The
good of man procured thereby. Both are laid down in the angel's song :
Luke ii. 14, ' Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-
'will towards men.'
(1.) For the glory of God. They see their creator gets a great deal
of honour. God was but half discovered in the creation of the world,
but now more fully in the redemption of the world. In the creation he
showed his power, wisdom, and goodness ; but now he discovers more
attributes, and these in a greater latitude, as his truth, holiness, and
justice. His truth in that this is the greatest promise ; his holiness,
for here is the greatest instance of his hatred of evil ; and his justice
in the agonies, and sufferings, and shame of the Son of God. In the
work of redemption God discovers his power in dissolving the works
of the devil, overpowering the resistance of man. It is true, in the
creation there was nothing to help, but there was nothing to let and
hinder. His goodness : Rom. iv. 8, ' But God commended his love
towards us, in that, while we were jret sinners, Christ died for us.'
God commendeth his love to us in loving such unworthy creatures,
and with such a love. So the apostle : Titus iii. 4, ' But after that
the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared.'
His wisdom, not in ordering the creatures, but reconciling his attri
butes. When God embraced such unworthy, polluted creatures, this is
that the angels are taken with, to see the wisdom, power, and justice
of God shining forth in the person of our Redeemer and in the work
of our redemption ; this is an admirable looking-glass wherein to see
these things.
(2.) For the good of man. The angels are without envy ; they re
joice at our welfare, when the nature of man is so much preferred before
theirs. They are brought in rejoicing when man was made : Job
xxxviii. 7, ' When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons
of God shouted for joy.' When Christ was born: Luke ii. 13, 'And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God.' When man is converted : Luke xv. 7, ' Joy shall
be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.' They rejoice in our
salvation.
Use 1. Information. It showeth us —
1. The sublimity of gospel mysteries ; they are speculations that
befit angels ; the angels that behold the face of God admire at them.
Oh ! how should we admire the love of God in Christ, that he hath
provided such things for us in Christ that angels wonder at ! The
business of our salvation is called a mystery : Eph. iii. 4, ' Whereby,
SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12. 209
when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ ; ' Eom. xvi. 25, ' According to the revelation of the mystery,
which was kept secret since the world began ; ' 1 Tim. iii. 16, ' With
out controversy great is the mystery of godliness.' A holy secret,
transcending the reach of ordinary knowledge, such as nothing of it
could be known by man or angel before it was revealed ; and after it
is revealed it is a thing hidden from carnal men in the spiritual beauty
of it, and in a great measure from believers themselves, if their know
ledge be compared with what it shall be hereafter : 1 Cor. xiii. 12,
' Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face ; now I know
in part, then I shall know even as also I am known.' Many are scan
dalised at the scriptures because of the simplicity of them, as contain
ing only a few plain truths ; but there are mysteries which take up
the mind and study of angels, and they think them worthy their best
thoughts.
2. The goodness of them. The angels are delighted in this study.
It is a pleasant, sweet, ravishing frame of truths ; the more we know
them aright, the more inquisitive shall we be, and the more diligent
to know more. Those know nothing of Christ savourily who are
so soon gospel-glutted and Christ-glutted, and look upon these
discoveries and discourses of God's grace in Christ as dry chips and
withered flowers, and hear them without any joy and thankfulness :
Kev. xix. 10, ' The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.' What
should we delight in, and busy our heads and hearts about, but with
God in Christ reconciling the world to himself ? This takes off our
delight from vain trifles. Many of you gentlemen, that leave this study
to divines, you lose much of the comfort and sweetness of your lives,
because you do no more warm your hearts with these thoughts.
Gentlemen, leave off the reading vain books and romances ; they
that have found the saving effects of God's love will do so : Eph. iii.
18, 19, ' That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is
the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge.' This will be for our comfort :
Rom. v. 5, ' Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost given to us.' It will quicken us to holiness, if ever we
feel the love of God : 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ constraineth us.'
3. It informeth us of the harmony between the churches, between
the old testament church and the Christian church: John viii. 56,
' Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was
glad ; ' Luke x. 24, ' I tell you that many prophets and kings have
desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and
to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.' The
times of the gospel would to them have been a sweet sight : they
ardently desired to see Christ in the flesh. And between the church
militant and the church triumphant ; they join together in admiring
Christ. Saints and angels have one beatitude, beholding the face of
God ; therefore they join in one duty, looking on Christ. We shall
one day meet in one assembly, Heb. xii. 23. We hope to be, Luke
xx. 36, 10-0776X04, ' Like the angels.J We should do as they do if we
would be as they be.
VOL. xvui. o
210 SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12.
4. That creatures busy their thoughts as they are affected. Base
spirits are busied about light matters; but eagles will not stoop to
catch flies, nor angels employ themselves in inferior and mean specu
lations, but thsy have a great delight in acknowledging the manifold
wisdom of God in the work of redemption. Great spirits are taken up
with things of great weight and importance : Acts xvii. 11, ' These
were more noble than they of Thessalonica, in that they received the
word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily,
whether these things were so.' Whilst others quench their souls in
sensualities, they are for the divine study. These were evyevea-Tepoi.
It is not meant of natural nobility, but spiritual true nobility and
excellency, which lieth in a care of salvation ; not in wearing fine
clothes or enjoying plentiful revenues or good descent, but in the
study of Christ ; not in greatness of birth, but diligence in searching
out the mysteries of salvation ; that is nobility indeed, not to enslave
ourselves to the opinions of men and their customs : 1 Cor. vii. 23,
' Ye are bought with a price ; be not ye the servants of men/ Not to
wallow in earthly pleasure, but seek things above : Col. iii. 1, ' If ye
then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Ohrist sitteth on the right hand of God ; ' Phil. iii. 20, ' For our con
versation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ.' Not to be overcome by a man's passions and
corrupt affections : Prov. xvi. 32, ' He that is slow to anger is better
than the mighty, and he that ruleth his own spirit than he that taketh
a city ;' Prov. xxv. 28, 'He that hath no rule over his own spirit, is
like a city that is broken dowa and without walls.' These noble
spirits will not yield to lusts.
Use 2. To reprove —
1. The slightness of men, and to confound us with shame that we
do no more take care to look after this happiness, that we do so unwill
ingly think of these things, or set apart ourselves for the study of
them. Shall we slight these things which angels wonder at ? Some
will scarce vouchsafe to look into these things, scarce think or talk
seriously of them, whilst their minds and discourses are taken up with
baubles and trifles. Angels are more noble beings, nearer to God ;
they are not the parties interested ; we have particular benefit by
them : Mat. xxii. 5, ' But they made light of it.' They would not let
it enter into their care and thoughts. We are bound to this under
pain of damnation ; it is not a thing arbitrary : Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall
we escape if we neglect so great salvation ? ' Bewail your stupidness
that you have so slight a sense of these things. Meditation I know
is painful work ; it is very difficult ; but the sweetness of the argu
ment should persuade us to it.
2. It reproveth that satiety that is apt to creep upon us. Why
should we be weary of searching into these holy mysteries ? What is
the reason .of this satiety ? (1.) We search for them out of curiosity,
or content ourselves -with mere speculations, which is an adulterous
love to truth, not to get an interest in them : John iv. 10, ' If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to
drink, thou wouldst have asked, and he would have given thee living
water.' (2.) We do not look upon them with the eye of faith : Eph.
SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12. 211
iii. 17, 18, ' That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and
to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.' Our embracing
by faith is a good means to make this study effectual. (3.) They
content themselves with a superficial view, but do not make an accu
rate inspection. We do not know it so as to stand wondering at it in
all its dimensions : Eph. iii. 18, ' That ye may be able to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth; and length, and depth, and height.'
Breadth, whereby it is extended to men of all ages and ranks : Mat.
xxviii. 20, ' Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the world ; '
1 Tim. ii. 4, ' Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the
knowledge of the truth.' Length, whereby it reacheth from eternity to
eternity : Ps. ciii. 17, ' The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to
everlasting/ Depth ; it stoopeth to our lowest misery. Christ deli
vered us from the depths of misery and sin: Ps. Ixxxvi. 13, 'Thou
hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.' And there is height in
it, whereby it reacheth to heavenly joys and happiness : John xiv. 3,
' If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.' Study those
several respects and ways wherein it is manifested, till you are ravished
with the thoughts of it ; draw solid comfort, hope, and quickening from
it : Ps. xxxix. 3, ' While I was musing the fire burned.'
3. It reproves those that only study it, but do not get an interest
and experience of the comfort of it, otherwise it is a cold story :
1 Peter ii. 3, ' If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.' There
is Christ revealed to us and Christ revealed in us ; then is there sweet
ness in these truths : Gal. i. 16, ' It pleased God to reveal his Son
in me.'
4. It reproves those that mar their savour with fleshly lusts, and are
distracted with hunting after the pleasures and profits of the world :
Eom. viii. 5, ' For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of
the flesh.' They that were invited to the feast, ' They made light of
it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise,'
Mat. xxii. 5. They do not value the glory of God and the true inte
rest of their own souls.
Use 3. Is to persuade us to search into and meditate upon these
blessed and glorious mysteries. Surely if the angels desire to look into
these things, they much more are propounded to our admiration and
delight, because we have more need, by reason of the imperfection of
our knowledge, and these things do more concern us, because we are
the parties interested. Needless speculations we may well spare ; the
things which concern our redemption by Christ are our own affairs,
and our greatest and most necessary affairs. To know our threatened
. misery to prevent it, and our promised happiness to obtain it, what wo
must do, and what we must be for ever, is that business which we
must most attend upon.
Here I shall inquire— (1.) What; (2.) How; (3.) Why.
First, What ? The person of our Eedeemer and the work of redemp
tion.
1. The person of our Eedeemer is a point of great concernment, to
212 SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12.
be often thought upon. The frame of nature is set as a glass, wherein
to behold and admire God: Kom. i. 20, 'For the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead.'
Much more the person of our Eedeemer, for we best behold God in
the face of Jesus Christ : 2 Cor. iv. 6, ' God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ; '
wherein we see God in our nature, and as head over all things to the
church, and as our Lord and Saviour. God is most honoured in his
greatest works, as the sun doth more honour him than a star, and a
star than a plant or herb and pile of grass ; so the person of Christ
doth more set forth God than either man or angel, or anything be
sides : Heb. i. 3, ' Who being airavyacrpa rfc '86^, the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person.' As God sets forth
more of his glory in him, so he expecteth it from him and by him.
We are always looking at our own benefit, but we do not look at God's
glory, nor what of God is discovered in Christ, in whom his goodness,
wisdom, and power doth eminently shine forth. Certainly the know
ledge of Christ is the Christian's wisdom, the true and proper feast of
a rational mind. Two things are most considerable in Christ — his
relation to God, and his relation to the universal church.
[1.] His relation to God, as the express image of his person. So
the angels delight to look upon him. Those holy creatures do not
consider their own benefit so much as their Creator's glory. Where
they find most of God, there they are most ravished, therefore they
greatly delight themselves when they consider the wisdom, power, and
goodness of God as manifested in Christ. The contemplation of these
things is their happiness. Now, shall the angels pay this rent of glory
to God, and shall not we ? Surely God should be as dear to us as to
them.
[2.] His relation to the universal church. It is more to be the
church's head and Saviour than ours in particular. The angels adore
him for the excellency of his office, and his transcendant glory and
dignity. It doth us a double good to reflect upon this ; partly to make
our affection more public, and that we may consider the common
good ; for a narrow private spirit maketh Christians self-seeking and
unpeaceable. Christ mainly is the head and saviour of the body:
Eph. v. 23, ' Christ is the head of the church, and he is the saviour of
the body.' When you see that he is head of all saints, under what
form and denomination whatsoever, your affections are less liable to
partiality, for then all Christians will be dear to you, as they are
united to you in him, and you will be more tender of the prosperity
of the church, of which Christ is the head. And partly to fortify you
against the splendour of all created glory ; for, Eph. i. 21, Christ is
exalted 'far above all principalities, and powers, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named ; not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come.' The glory and splendour of earthly
things doth often dazzle our eyes ; now it is good to divert our minds
by considering the glory and excellency of Christ. Kings and em
perors are nothing to him, less than the light of a candle compared with
SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12.
213
the sun. The angels see him far above them, and we should see him
far above all created power and glory, and so hearten ourselves against
all discouragements.
2. The work of our redemption, which is double —
[1.] In reconciling us to God : 2 Cor. v. 19, ' God was in Christ
reconciling the world to himself/ We should always ravish our hearts
with this speculation : Heb. iii. 1, ' Consider the apostle and high
priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.' He is our high priest as
dealing with God, and our apostle as dealing with man. God thought
it worthy of his eternal thoughts, and therefore we should more set
our minds a-work about it. Eedemption by Christ is so much slighted,
because we do not consider the high and excellent ends thereof.
Certainly every faculty must be exercised in praising God, mind as
well as heart ; and this is the proper object to exercise our minds, as
it doth the angelical contemplation, and by our minds our hearts.
[2.] In vanquishing our enemies, and removing the impediments
of our salvation. By merit Christ did it on the cross : Col. ii. 15,
' Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them in it ; ' that is, on the cross. Satan
triumphed visibly, Christ invisibly. It was the hour of the power of
darkness, and yet of the conquest of the Son of God. Representative
he did it in his ascension: Eph. iv. 8, ' When he ascended up on high,
he led captivity captive ; ' he foiled his enemies on the cross, and he
triumphed over them at his ascension ; but it was before the tribunal
of God, in the sight of angels and our faith. But then there is an
actual conquest and triumph. The conquest is still carrying on till
his kingdom be complete: Ps. ex. 1, 'The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou on my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool.'
The effects are discerned, as Christ casteth the devil out of his temples
and territories, and out of the hearts of men. The triumph is gloriously
visible and sensible, and open to the view of all at the last day. In
both these things the angels are concerned. In his conquests, as Christ
doth confound the wisdom of men and devils in maintaining and
preserving his church. They are a part of Christ's army, and have a
great respect to his church : Heb. i. 13, 14, ' But to which of the
angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool ? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? ' They are some
of God's messengers, that help to restore and recover man from the
power of the devil, and disdain not the service Christ appoints them
for lost sinners, but have a great respect to his church and the assem
blies of his people : 1 Cor. xi. 10, ' For this cause ought the woman to
have power on her head, because of the angels ; ' 1 Tim. v. 21, ' I
charge thee before God, and the elect angels.' For his triumph ;
with them Christ will appear at the end of the world, when he hath
won the field, and cometh in triumph to confound his conquered
enemies : 2 Thes. i. 7, ' The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from hea
ven with his mighty angels.' These things the angels pry into, 'so
should we.
Secondly, How?
1. Accurately and seriously. Usually we content ourselves with
214 SERMON UPON 1 PETER I. 12.
running cursory thoughts, never sit and pause with ourselves what
manner of saviour and salvation this is, what is required of them that
would be partakers of it, and so content ourselves with a superficial
view, without an accurate inspection. Slight and shallow apprehen
sions leave no impression on the soul. The hen that often straggleth
from her nest suffereth her eggs to chill. We should dwell upon these
things till they produce a clearer knowledge, a firmer belief, an higher
estimation, a greater admiration ; for this is to resemble angels : Eph.
iii. 18, ' That we may comprehend with all saints the depth, and
length, and breadth, and height;' all which begets solid comforts.
When the mind is wholly taken up with other things, the soundest
knowledge worketh not.
2. Spiritually, profitably, practically. Our business is not so much
to know new truths about the gospel, as to know them in a more use
ful manner. Let us pry into these things as the angels do, not to
satisfy our curiosity with a little notional knowledge, or out of pride,
that we may pertinently discourse of them, or hold up an argument
about them, but that God may be glorified and admired in the person
of the Eedeemer, and our souls delighted for our comfort and quicken
ing, and weaned from the vanities of the world : ver. 13, 'Wherefore
gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the
grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ/
Thirdly, Why ?
1. Because it is an honourable employment to look into the mysteries
of salvation, and to be much conversant about them. It will be a
great part of our happiness and work in heaven to behold Christ's
glory : John xvii. 24, ' Father, I will that those whom thou hast given
me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.'
All our faith, hope, and labour tendeth to this. The queen of Sheba
took a long journey to behold the glory of Solomon, which did so
ravish her that her spirit even fainted within her ; and yet that was
but an earthly, temporal, fading glory. But to behold the majesty and
greatness which Christ our Kedeemer hath at the right hand of God
is the great work which we have to do to all eternity ; therefore now
we should busy ourselves about these things, that our mouths may be
filled with praise and thanksgiving.
2. Because it is delightful to gracious hearts. God findeth a delight
in Christ, and shall not we? There is more in the gospel than a
vulgar eye taketh notice of, or our first apprehensions represent unto us.
Shall angels wonder at these things, joy and delight in these things,
andshall we slight them ? Paul counted all things ' dung in compa
rison of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ,' Phil. iii. 8 ; and 1
Cor. ii. 2, ' I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ,
and him crucified/ Surely unless our thoughts are lawfully diverted
or suspended we should think of no other thing. Austin cast away
Tully quia nomen Christinon erat ibi, because the name of Christ was
not in it.
3. It is useful.
[1.] That all created glory may wax dim, and be more obscured in
our eyes ; their power is nothing, their loveliness is nothing in com
parison of Christ; this should take up thy soul, and draw off thy
SERMON UPON I PETER I. 12.
215
observation from deluding vanities, such as riches, and honours, and
pleasures. As the light of a candle is scarce seen when the sun
shineth brightly, so all the tempting baits of the flesh are nothing
when the glories of Christ are considered by us. See ver. 13, ' Where
fore gird up the loins of your mind, and be sober, and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.' So for affrighting terrors ; what are potentates and powers to-
him ? All authorities and powers, lawful or usurped, must be sub
ject to Christ : 1 Peter iii. 22, ' Who is gone into heaven, and is at the
right hand of God, angels, and authorities, and powers being made
subject unto him.' This promoteth the joy and constancy of believers
under sufferings.
2. To draw out our hearts after him : John iv. 10, ' If thou knewest
the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink,
thou wouldst have asked, and he would have given thee living water.'
Looking after these things is in order to choice: Mat. xiii. 45, 46, ' The
kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls,
who, when he hath found one pearl of great price, he went and sold
all that he had, and bought it/ What are all things in the world if
set against Christ and his salvation ?
3. That we should converse with him in holy duties with more reve
rence : Heb. xii. 25, ' See that ye refuse not him that speaketh ; for
if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more
shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from
heaven ; ' Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation ? which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and
was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.' Now, shall we
scarce vouchsafe these things a serious thought? The angels are
concerned in a way of duty, not in a way of benefit ; it is their duty
to worship Christ : Heb. i. 6, ' And again, when he brought his first-
begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God wor
ship him ; ' but not by way of recovery ; and yet they desire to look
into this glorious mystery.
SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5.
For we through tlie Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. — GAL. v. 5.
IN the context the apostle persuadeth the Galatians to stand fast in
the liberty of the gospel, and not to be entangled again in the bon
dage of legal ceremonies, as if they were necessary to justification or
acceptance with God. He is earnest in the case, for the glory of his
master and the good of souls was concerned ; and therefore useth
divers motives. (1.) They lose all benefit by Christ, ver. 2. (2.)
They are debtors to the whole law, ver. 3. (3.) They are fallen from
grace, ver. 4. And now, in the fourth place, the consent of the
Christian gospel church, who, upon justification by faith, expect
remission of sins and eternal life. Their judgment is the more to be
esteemed because they are taught by the Spirit of God to renounce
the legal covenant, and expect their acceptance with God by faith
only : ' For we,' &c.
In these words observe — (1.) The end, scope, and blessedness of a
Christian, in the word ' Hope/ (2.) The firm ground of it, ' The
righteousness of faith.' (3.) The carriage of Christians, 'We wait.'
(4.) The inward moving cause of waiting for this hope in this way,
' Through the Spirit.' They are taught by him, inclined by him, so
to do.
1. The blessedness of a Christian is implied in the word ' Hope.'
For hope is taken two ways in scripture — for the thing hoped for, and
for the affection or act of him that hopeth. Here it is taken in the
first sense, for the thing hoped for. As also Titus ii. 1 3, ' Looking
for the blessed hope.' So Col. i. 5, ' For the hope which is laid up
for us in heaven.'
2. The ground and foundation of this hope, ' The righteousness of
faith.' What it is I will show you by-and-by. Only here it is
opposed, partly to the covenant of works, which could not give life ;
partly to the legal observances ; for it presently followeth, ' Neither
circumcision, nor uncircumcision,' &c. But by no means is it opposed
to evangelical obedience ; for the whole new testament obedience is
comprised in this term, ' The righteousness of faith ; ' as appeareth
by the apostle's explication in the next verse, ' But faith, which works
by love.'
3. The duty of a Christian, ' We wait.' De jure, we ought ; de
facto, we do. All true Christians wait for the mercy of God and life
SERMON UPON GALATIANS Y. 5. 217
everlasting. And he calleth it waiting, because a believer hath not
so much in possession as in expectation. And this waiting is not a
devout sloth, but implieth diligence in the use of all means whereby
we may obtain this hope.
4. The inward efficient cause, ' Through the Spirit.' We are taught
by the Spirit, inclined by the Spirit so to do.
[1.] Taught; for the doctrine is mystical : flesh and blood revealeth
it not to us, but the Holy Ghost, Mat. xvi. 17.
[2.] Inclined to this spiritual course of life, wherein we obtain this
blessed hope, by the same Spirit ; for this holy and humble way is
contrary to the interest of the flesh. And we are told afterward, Gal.
v. 25, that we live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit.
So that in effect here is all Christianity abridged. Our blessed
ness, the way to it ; our help, or how we are brought to walk in that
way.
Doct. That by the Spirit all true Christians are inclined to pursue
after the hope built upon the righteousness of faith.
1. What is the righteousness of faith' ?
2. What is the hope built upon it ?
3. What is the interest and work of the Spirit in bringing us to
wait for this hope ?
I. What is the righteousness of faith ? We told you before it is
opposed either to the law of works or the ceremonial observances of
the law of Moses. But more particularly it may be determined — (1.)
Either with respect to the object of faith ; or (2.) To the act or grace
of faith itself; (3.) With respect to the rule and warrant of faith,
which is the gospel or new covenant.
1. This righteousness of faith may be considered with respect to
the object of faith ; and the proper and principal object of faith is
Jesus Christ and his merits ; and so the righteousness of faith is the
obedience and death of Christ, which, because it is apprehended by
faith, it is sometimes called the righteousness of Christ, and sometimes
the righteousness of faith : Phil. iii. 9, ' And be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness, which is by the law, but that which is
by the faith of Christ, even the righteousness which is of God by
faith.' This certainly is the ground of our acceptance with God, and
therefore the bottom and foundation of all our hope : Rom. v. 19, ' By
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous ; ' that is, by
Christ's merit and obedience ; and 2 Cor. v. 21, ' He was made sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'
This is it we rely upon, as the only meritorious cause of whatever
benefit we obtain by the new covenant.
2. With respect to faith itself, whereby the merits of Christ's
obedience and death are applied and made beneficial to us. When
we believe, we are qualified ; and therefore it is said that ' Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness,' Rom. iv. 3 ;
that is, God accepted him as righteous for Christ's sake. And so he
doth every one that believeth ; for, Rom. iii. 22, ' The righteousness of
God is by faith of Christ Jesus, unto all, and upon all them that
believe ; ' without any difference. If Abraham was justified by faith,
we are justified by faith. Now, if you ask me what kind of believer is
218 SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5.
qualified and accepted as righteous, I answer — It is the penitent
believer and the working believer.
[1.] The penitent believer; for faith and repentance are insepar
able companions : Mark i. 15, ' Eepent, and believe the gospel ; ' Acts
xii. 38, 'Repent, and be baptized everyone of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost ; ' Acts xi. 21, ' The hand of the Lord was with them,
and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.' These two
cannot be severed ; for till we are affected with that miserable estate
whereunto we have plunged ourselves by our sins, and there be an
hearty sorrow for them, and a perfect hatred and detestation of them,
and a full and peremptory resolution to forsake them, that we may
turn to the Lord and live in his obedience, we will not prize Christ
nor his benefits, nor see such a need of the spiritual physician to heal
our wounded souls ; nor will God accept us as righteous while we con
tinue in our unrighteousness. So that, though it be righteousness
of faith, and the believer be only accepted as righteous, yet it is the
penitent believer whose heart and mind is changed, and is willing by
Christ to come to God.
[2.] It is the working believer ; for so it is explained in the next
verse, ' Faith working by love ; ' and so expressed elsewhere : Heb. xi.
7, ' By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved
with fear, prepared an ark, to the saving of his house, by which he
became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith.' Observe there,
the saving of Noah from the flood is a type and shadow of salvation by
Christ. The flood drowned and destroyed the impenitent world, but
Noah and his family were saved in the ark. We are warned of the
eternal penalties threatened by God ; if we do not repent and believe,
we shall not be saved from wrath ; but if we believe, and prepare an
ark, diligently use the means appointed for our safety, then we become
heirs of the righteousness of faith, are accepted by God, and have a
right to all the benefits which depend thereupon. It was a business of
vast charge, and an eminent piece of self-denying obedience, to prepare
an ark. So true faith showeth itself by obedience. We read of the
' Obedience of faith,' Kom. xvi. 26, as the fruit of the gospel.
3. With respect to its rule and warrant, and that is the gospel and
new covenant, called the ' word of faith,' Kom. x. 8 ; ' The hearing of
faith,' — 'Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hear
ing of faith ? ' Gal. iii. 2 ; 'The law of faith,' Bom. iii. 27. This is the
doctrine which is believed. Now all that the new covenant requireth
may be called the righteousness of faith. For look, as to be justified
by the law, or works required by the law, is all one ; so to be justified
by faith, and to be justified by the new covenant, is all one also. And
therefore, whatever the new covenant requireth as our duty, that we
may be capable of the privileges thereof, is a part of the righteousness
of faith. Now it requireth repentance from dead works : Acts xvii. 30,
' He hath commanded all men to repent, because he will judge the
world in righteousness.' We are to repent in order to the judgment,
which will be either of condemnation or justification. So the new
covenant requireth faith in our Lord Jesus Christ : John v. 24, ' He
that believeth in Christ shall not come into condemnation.' So it
SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5. 219
requireth new obedience : Heb. v. 9, ' He is become the author of eternal
salvation to them that obey him.' None are qualified for eternal life
but those who perform sincere obedience to his commands. It is not
absolutely perfect obedience that is required, but only sincere and
upright. And there is a necessity that we should be sincerely holy,
not only in order to salvation, but pardon : 1 John i. 7, ' If we walk
in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin/ And
in order to the application of the blood of Christ to our souls, or to
the obtaining of the gift of the Spirit, or any new-covenant gift : Acts
v. 32, ' We are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the holy
Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.'
Well, then, these are the conditions to be found in us before we are
made partakers of the full benefit of Christ's merit ; repentance towards
God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and new obedience. And all
these are comprised in the expression, ' The righteousness of faith ; '
for faith receiveth Christ, and the promises made to us in Christ, upon
the terms and conditions required in the gospel. Only these things
are of a different nature, and concur differently. The obedience of
Christ in a way by itself of merit and satisfaction ; faith, repentance,
and our obedience, only in a way of application. And in the applica
tion, the introduction is by faith and repentance, and the continuance
of our right by new obedience. Yea, in the introduction repentance
respects God and faith Christ : Acts xx. 21, ' Testifying both to Jews,
and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ.' We return to God, as our chief good and sove
reign Lord, that we may love, serve, and obey him, and be happy in
his love. Faith respects Christ as redeemer and mediator, who hath
opened the way for our return by his merit and satisfaction, or recon
ciliation wrought between us and God, and given us an heart to return
by the renewing grace of his Spirit. Coming to God and being accepted
with God is our end ; Christ is our way ; and indeed in the righteous
ness of faith the chiefest part belongeth to him, who by his blood hath
procured this covenant for us, for whose sake only God giveth us grace
to repent, believe, and obey ; and after we have done our duty, doth
for his sake only accept of us and give us our reward. These are not
co-ordinate causes, but he is the supreme cause ; all that we do is sub
ordinate to his merit and obedience.
II. What is the hope built upon it, or the things hoped for by virtue
of this righteousness ? and they are pardon and life.
1. Certainly pardon of sins is intended in the righteousness of faith,
as appeareth by that of the apostle : Kom. iv. 6-8, ' David describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered ; blessed is the man unto whom the Lord
will not impute sin.' If this be the description of the righteousness of
faith, or the privileges which belong thereunto (for now we are upon
the hope of the righteousness of faith), then certainly remission of sins
is a special branch of this felicity.
2. There is also in it salvation or eternal life : Titus iii. 7, ' That
being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs, according to the
220 SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5.
hope of eternal life.' The crown of glory is for the justified, called
therefore ' the crown of righteousness,' 2 Tim. iv. 8. You have both
together : Acts xxvi. 18, ' That they may receive forgiveness of sins,
an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith/ These two
benefits are most necessary, the one to allay the fears of the guilty
creature, the other to gratify his desires of happiness. Therefore the
apostles, when they planted the gospel, they propounded this motive
of forgiveness of sins : Acts xiii. 38, * Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins ; ' and also the other of life eternal :
2 Tim. i. 10, ' That Christ hath brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel.'
These two benefits give us the greatest support and comfort against
all kind of troubles. Our troubles are either inward or outward.
Against troubles of mind, or inward troubles, we are supported by the
pardon of our sins : Mat. ix. 2, ' Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins be
forgiven thee.' Against outward troubles we are supported by the
hopes of a better life being secured to us : 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18, ' For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; while we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.' Again, both are eminently accomplished at the last judgment,
when the righteousness of faith standeth us in most stead : Acts iii. 19,
' Kepent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord.' Then by the one we are freed from the guilt of sin, and so have
deliverance from eternal death ; by the other we have not only right,
but entrance into eternal glory. What is our whole scope but to be
absolved by Christ at last, and enter into eternal life ?
Finally, These two are to be regarded, to obviate their mistake who
think indeed that faith, and it may be repentance, is necessary to
pardon, or to dissolve our obligation to punishment, but not new obed
ience. But in their place all the conditions are necessary. They think
new obedience is necessary to salvation or eternal life, but not to justi
fication. But salvation is as gracious an act of mercy, as free and
undeserved a gift, as pardon : Rom. vi. 23, ' The wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
Eternal life is not oifrwvtov, 'wages,' but %apt9 Oeov, ' the gift of God.'
It is as much merited by Christ as the other ; and therefore as proper
a part, yea, the chief part of the hope of righteousness by faith, and
that which is only waited for, and not enjoyed.
III. What is the work of the Spirit in this business, in urging
believers to wait for the hope of righteousness by faith ?
I answer — The work of the Spirit doth either concern the duties of
the new covenant or the privileges of the new covenant, or what is
common to them both. I begin with the latter.
1. What is common to them both. He doth convince us of the
truth of the gospel, both of means and end ; that there is such an hope,
and the righteousness of faith is the only way to obtain it. Now this
he doth externally and internally.
[1.] Externally, and by way of objective evidence. All the certainty
SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5. 221
that we have of the gospel is by the Spirit : Acts v. 32, ' We are
witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Ghost, which he hath given
to them that obey him,' and John xv. 26, 27, 'When the Comforter
is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me ; and
ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with m.e from the be
ginning/ Mark, in both these places the two solemn witnesses are the
Spirit and the apostles ; the one principal, the other ministerial ; the
one declaring doctrine and matter of fact, the other assuring the world
of the truth of their testimony. The apostles testified of Christ's say
ings and doings, and the Holy Ghost, which came down upon them
and the rest that consorted with them, and was given in some measure
to those that obeyed their doctrine, was an undoubted evidence that
God owned it from heaven. Here was enough to open men's eyes, and to
give them a right understanding of his person and doctrine, that it was
of God. The visible gifts of the Holy Ghost, and his powerful working
in the hearts of men, in order to their conversion unto God, these admir
able gifts and graces shed abroad upon men were a notable conviction
to the world that Christ was a teacher sent from God, to teach men
the way to eternal life and happiness. This did afford sufficient matter
of confirmation and conviction, by the Spirit shed abroad and poured
forth on the Christian church.
[2.] Internally, enlightening their minds and inclining their hearts
to embrace the truth ; which maketh the former testimony effectual.
So the apostle prayeth, Eph. i. 17, 'For the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation, in the knowledge of Christ, tlie eyes of their understanding
being enlightened, that they might know what is the hope of his call
ing, and the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the saints in
light.' To the sight of anything these things are necessary — an object,
a medium, and a faculty. As in outward sight, an object that may be
seen ; a convenient light to represent it and make the object perspi
cuous ; an organ or faculty of seeing in the eye. Unless there be an
object, you bid a man see nothing. Unless there be a medium, a due
light to represent it, as in a fog, or at midnight, the sharpest sight
can see nothing. Unless there be a faculty, neither the object nor
medium will avail ; a blind man cannot see anything at noonday.
Now here is an object, the way of salvation by Christ ; a convenient
light, it is represented in the gospel ; and the faculty is prepared, for
the eyes of the mind are opened by the Spirit, that we may see both
way and end, the necessity of holiness, and the reality of future glory
and blessedness. Alas ! without this sight we busy ourselves about
vanities and childish toys, and never mind the things which are most
necessary. Certainly we can have no saving understanding of spiri
tual truths, neither what is the benefit of Christianity or the blessed
condition of God's people, nor what are the duties of Christianity, so as
our hearts may be held to them, or how we may behave ourselves as
true believers.
2. The work of the Spirit as to the duties of the new covenant.
He doth not only convince us of the reality and the necessity of Christ's
obedience and our holiness, but by his powerful operation frameth
and inclineth our hearts to the duties required of us. Faith itself is
222 SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5.
wrought in us by this holy Spirit, for it is ' the gift of God,' Eph. ii.
8 ; and so is repentance and obedience : Heb. viii. 10, ' I will write
my laws upon their hearts, and put them into their minds.' Moses'
law was written on tables of stone, as a rule without them ; but
Christ's law on the heart and mind, as drawing and inclining them to
obey it. The renewing grace of the Spirit of God doth prepare us
and fit us, and his exciting grace doth quicken us, that we may do
what is pleasing in his sight. And therefore, if we profess to live
under the new covenant, we are inexcusable if we do not bestir our
selves, and accomplish the work of faith with power, and obey from
the heart the doctrine delivered to us. Indeed the Spirit doth most
naturally put us upon spiritual worship and spiritual holiness ; these
things agree most with his being and nature. The observances of the
law were carnal, yet as long as God's command continued, the Spirit
inclined to obedience to them ; but a better law being enacted by
Christ, the Spirit, that proceedeth from the Father and the Son,
suiteth his operations accordingly ; for he cometh into us as Christ's
Spirit : ' He shall take of mine and glorify me,' John xvi. 14. All
that he doth accordeth with Christ, as Christ's will doth with the
Father.
3. The work of the Spirit as to the privileges of the new covenant,
which are pardon and life.
[1.] As to pardon, he is the Comforter. He cometh into our hearts
as the pledge of our atonement ; we receive it when we receive the
Spirit, Rom. v. 11 ; and his sanctifying work is the sure evidence that
God is at peace with us : 1 Thes. v. 23, ' The God of peace sanctify
you wholly.' And doth engage us to wait on God in the way of well
doing, till our pardon be pronounced, and we be absolved by our
judge's own mouth, in the hearing of all the world. In the mean
time, applieth to us the blood of Christ for the pacifying of our con
sciences, and the comforts of the pardoning covenant, that our peace
with God may be more firmly settled.
[2.] As to life, he doth three things —
(1.) Prepareth us and fitteth us for it: 2 Cor. v. 5, ' He that hath
wrought us for this very thing is God, who also hath given us the
earnest of the Spirit.' None are received into glory but those that are
prepared for glory: Kom. ix. 23, 'Vessels of mercy which he had
before prepared unto glory.' He giveth us the heavenly mind, or a
heart working up to God and heaven, and purifieth us more and more
for that blessed estate.
(2.) He assureth us of it : 2 Cor. i. 22, ' Who hath anointed us, and
sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.' The
beginning of holiness and love to God is a pledge and assurance of the
eight of God, and our complete vision of him and love to him ; for
God would not so against nature plant such dispositions in us, if he
meant not to perfect them ; nor print his image upon us if he intended
not a more full conformity to himself in another and better world.
(3.) He comforteth us, and raiseth our longing after this blessed
estate ; for the beginnings we have here are called also ' the first-fruits,'
Kom. viii. 23. The beginnings are sweet ; what will the completion
be ? As he is the earnest to confirm our hopes, the first-fruits to
SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5. 223
raise our affections, that we may be diligent and serious in the pursuit
of it.
Ifse of att. I. Here you see your scope, what you should look for
and hope for — the forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among the
sanctified.-
2. Here you see your work, and what you should now seek after,
' The righteousness of faith.'
3. Here you see your help, and what will enable you to obtain,
' Through the Spirit.' Oh ! let these things be more in your thoughts.
[1.] For your happiness, or the great privileges which you should
most value and hope for —
First, The forgiveness of sins. I shall only suggest these two things
to you —
(1.) Till sin be forgiven, you can never have found peace within
yourselves, but still God will be matter of fear and terror to you.
Adam, as soon as he had sinned, he was afraid : Gen. iii. 10, ' I heard
thy voice in the garden, and was afraid, and hid myself.' In the
morning of that day he was made by the hand of God, and in a few-
hours runneth away from his maker as afraid of him. So Isa. xxxiii.
14, * The sinners in Sion are afraid ; ' as unable to abide the presence
of God. Now we, that have so much to do with God, to depend upon
him every moment for all that we are, have, and want, surely it would
be a comfortable thing to us to hear not only that sin may be pardoned,
but is pardoned: Isa. xl. 1, 2, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith the Lord ; speak comfortably unto Jerusalem ; cry to her, that
her warfare is accomplished, her sin is pardoned.' There is the true
ground of comfort, to have sin forgiven. Other comforts tickle the
senses, but this soaketh into the heart.
(2.) By waiting on the duties of the gospel, this comfort is more
and more settled in the heart. With the serious, it is not an easy
thing to get this comfort settled ; for the conscience of sin is not so
soon laid aside. We have wronged God, and incurred his displeasure ;
but now to believe that he is appeased is not so soon done as spoken.
Some are guilty and senseless, but yet no sound peace : Heb. ii. 14,
' Subject to bondage ; ' though they feel it not. Others are sensible,
and have a fear of God's wrath. It is a great while ere they can get
their hearts to settle on the possible pardon or reconciliation offered
in the covenant. When they do, it is but, It may be : Joel ii. 14, ' Who
knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind
him ? ' Zeph. ii. 3, ' It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the
Lord's anger.' But to judge of the sincerity of our qualification, so as
to say, Ps. ciii. 3, ' Who pardoneth all thy sins, and healeth all thy
diseases,' this cometh not by-and-by. The case is this : God is angry ;
his anger is ratified by the sentence of his law, and conscience is privy
to our own disobedience, and applieth the sentence of his righteous
law to itself. Some part of the anger may break out in his providence.
Our duties and addresses to God about pardon are very imperfect,
therefore it is difficult to have pardon settled ; yet by acquaintance
with God, in the exercise of faith, repentance, and new obedience, we
come to get the peace established: Job xxii. 21, 'Acquaint thyself
with him,' habitually converse with him, ' and be at peace.'
224 SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5.
[2.] For eternal life. Oh ! let it be your great hope to be translated
into the glory and joys of heaven when you flit out of this world.
This life will not always last ; you must die, but you do not wholly
perish when you die. Now what shall become of you to all eternity ?
Would it not be a blessed thing to be assured that, when you appear
before the bar of your judge, you shall not come into condemnation,
but obtain eternal life ? Surely happiness is desired by all. The
young man that cheapened the pearl of the gospel, but was loath to
go to the price, said, ' Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life ? ' Markx. 17. Surely this is the question which all serious people
should busy themselves about. The jailer did so : Acts xvi. 30,
' Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? ' Alas ! other things do not touch
us so near. Not, how shall I do to live in the world ? but, how shall
I do to live with God for ever ? let your hearts be upon that : Ps.
xxiv. 3, ' Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? who shall stand
in his holy place ? '
Having spoke to your hope and scope, let me, secondly, now speak
to your work, what you must seek after, and that is, ' The righteousness
of faith.' To enforce this consider —
1. There is no appearing before God without some righteousness of
one sort or another. Why ? Because it is an holy and just God be
fore whom we appear ; and 'shall not the judge of all the earth do
right ? ' Gen. xviii. 25 ; and 1 Sam. vi. 20, ' Who is able to stand
before this holy Lord God ? ' If not now in the time of his patience,
how then in the time of his recompense ? His holiness inclineth him
to hate sin, and his justice to punish it. Again, it is an holy law,
according to which the process of that day shall be guided/ A law
that is clean and pure, which alloweth not the least evil : ' Thy law is
exceeding pure/ Ps. cxix. 140. The gospel abateth nothing of the
purity of it Now when we appear before an holy God, and must be
judged by an holy law, surely we must have holiness and righteousness
answerable, or how can we stand in the judgment ? It is an holy God
before whose tribunal we must appear, and an holy law that we must
be judged bj ; therefore, if we be destitute of all kind of righteousness,
what shall we do ?
2. No other righteousness will serve the turn but the righteousness
of faith ; and therefore, till we submit to the new covenant, we are in
a woful case. Now the righteousness of the new covenant is supreme
or subordinate; the supreme by way of merit and satisfaction, the
subordinate by way of application and qualification on our parts.
[1.] The supreme is the righteousness or obedience of Christ, which
can alone deliver us from hell : Job xxxiii. 24, ' Deliver him from going
down to the pit, for I have found a ransom.' There is no deliverance
from eternal destruction, which our sins deserve, but only by the ransom
which he hath paid. Till his justice be satisfied by Christ, no good
can come unto us.
[2.] The subordinate righteousness, which qualifieth us, and giveth
us an interest, is faith, repentance, and new obedience ; all which are
hugely necessary, convenient, and gracious terms.
(1.) Faith, by which we own and acknowledge our Kedeemer, with
love, thankfulness, dependence, and hearty subjection to him. Certainly
SERMON UPON GALATIANS V. 5. 225
love and thankfulness is due to him who hath endured so much, and
procured such great benefits for us. Would we have the blessings
instated on us. and not know from what hand they come? And
acceptance is due ; for should Christ save us without our wills and
against our consent ? Dependence is due. Should they have benefit
by Christ's merits who question the force and efficacy of them ?
Therefore ' God hath set him forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood,' Horn. iii. 25.
(2.) Kepentance is necessary. Would we have God to pardon us
while we continue in our rebellion, without sorrow for it or purpose to
leave it ? The case of the obstinate is not compassionable : Jer. iii.
13, ' Only acknowledge thine iniquity, and I am gracious,' and to
acknowledge an offence and continue in it is to condemn ourselves.
(3.) New obedience. That was due before to our Creator, and our
Kedeemer strengtheneth the bond, and maketh it more comfortable ;
for we have a new Lord by right of redemption : Kom. xiv. 9, ' For to
this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be
Lord both of the dead and living.' A Lord that hath paid dear for
our souls.
3. This righteousness is every way sufficient, that we may venture
our eternal well-being upon it ; for what is appointed by God will be
accepted by God. And though there be many defects in our faith,
repentance, and obedience, yet there is an intrinsic value in the obed
ience and death of Christ besides the institution : Heb. ix. 14, ' How
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered up himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God ? ' And 1 Peter i. 18, 19, "• Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot.'
Lastly, See your help. The Spirit is the great new-covenant gift
purchased by Christ, that it might be dispensed to us the more abun
dantly : John i. 16, ' And of his fulness have all we received, and grace
for grace ; ' Titus iii. 5, 6, ' By the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us.' By his sanctifying and renewing grace we are enabled
for all this duty. We have it by the hearing of faith, Gal. iii. 2 ;
and the whole dispensation of the gospel is called the ministration of
the Spirit, 2 Cor. v. 8. Therefore if a sluggish heart did not possess
Christians, they might do more than they do.
YOL. xvm.
SERMON UPON 2 PETER III. 9.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness ; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. — 2 PETER
iii. 9.
THE apostle, in answer to the cavil and exception of the mockers of
religion, is taking off the scandal of the delay of Christ's coming.
Three considerations are produced to satisfy the godly —
1. The true measure of speed or delay is the eternity of God. which
admits of no beginning, succession, and ending, but consists in a con
stant presentness to all that which to us seemeth past or to come ;
and we must judge as he judge th. This is laid down, ver. 8.
2. The end of this delay, which is the conversion of sinners. It
proceedeth not from any culpable slackness in God, but only his
patience towards the elect. God is not slack, but we hasty. Our
temper requireth time and patience to work upon us, and bring us under
the power of grace. This is in the text.
3. The manner of coming, which is sudden and unexpected, like the
coming of a thief upon a sleepy family, ver. 10 ; therefore we should
rather prepare for it than complain of slackness.
We are upon the second consideration. Wherein —
1. The false cause of this delay is removed, ' The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness.'
2. The true cause assigned, ' But is long suffering to us-ward.'
3. The end of this long-suffering propounded — (1.) Negatively,
' Not willing that any should perish ; ' (2.) Positively, ' But that all
should come to repentance.' Wherein the way to escape ruin is
intimated, which is repentance.
The only doubt is about the sense of the words, how that is to be
understood, that God would not have any perish, but all come to
repentance ; for we see many do yet perish, all do not come to repen
tance ; and is God frustrated of his end ?
Ans. To this doubt three answers are given, and all solid, though I
prefer the two first.
1. The patience of God, according to its nature, hath that use and
end, to invite all sinners to repentance : Rom. ii. 4, ' Despisest thou
the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not know-
SERMON UPON 2 PETER III. 9. 227
ing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? ' God's
continuing forfeited mercies, and tarrying the sinner's leisure, givetli
us an hope that he is willing to be reconciled ; and if we do not seek
his favour, and turn to him by repentance, it is long of ourselves ; the
fault is our own, because we do not improve this hope.
2. The apostle in this place hath special reference to the elect, who
are concerned more especially in the promise of Christ's coming, to
put an end to their sufferings, and to render them an eternal reward.
Certain it is that the apostle speaketh to Christians, reckoneth himself
in that number : ' Is long-suffering towards us.' Now all these are
not born at once nor converted at once. If the judgment should be
hastened, many of the elect would be found in their natural condition.
Now God would have none of these to perish, but that all in their time
should by congruous means be brought to repentance. All things are
for the elect's sake ; if their number were completed, time would be no
more, and the present state of things would be dissolved.
3. The third answer is by distinguishing a twofold will in God.
There is voluntas signi and voluntas beneplaciti. The will of his good
pleasure, and his will declared by some sign, command, decree. The
one concerneth our duty, the other the event. It is all men's duty to
repent : 1 Tim. ii. 4, 'Who will have all men to be saved, and to come
to the knowledge of the truth.' Not as to the event : God doth not
will it so as it shall fall out so ; but this is their duty. His approving
will is meant. Some scoff at this distinction, but the thing is as
evident as daylight. It is one thing to will that this thing shall be or
not be ; another thing, this is good or evil ; one respects existence, the
other moral regulation. The one showeth what shall be, the other
what should be ; the one what God will do, the other what we should
do. His command must be distinguished from his decree ; some
things are willed only by one, not both ; as the selling of Joseph, the
crucifying of Christ ; God willed them voluntate beneplaciti, but not
signi ; he declared no such will as a rule to the creatures. Some
things he willeth voluntate signi, not beneplaciti ; as the conversion
of all that live within the hearing of the gospel ; he doth not purpose
it in his decree. Sometimes he willeth the same things by both ; as
the conversion of the gentiles to the faith of Christ; God purposed it
in his decree, and required it in the gospel. This is a truth applicable
to other scriptures, and in part to this. But I stick to the former
answers. • By his secret and everlasting decree he chooseth whom he
thinketh good, and appoints the preaching of the gospel, by which all
are invited. God would not have any one to perish by his directive and
approving will : Ezek. xxxiii. 11, ' I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked. Turn ye,' &c. Yet will not have all to be saved, not all
by his secret and appointing will.
Doct. The great end of God's continuing the world and the present
state of things is to bring men to repentance.
I shall not handle curious questions, therefore I shall show you —
(1.) What is repentance; (2.) That this is God's end in continuing
the world and the present state of things ; (3.) What encouragement
there is from God's long-suffering to induce men to repentance.
I. What is repentance ? It lieth in three things —
228 SERMON UPON 2 PETER IIL 9.
1. A sensible sight of sin and deserved wrath. There must be a
sight of sin, for it is sinners only who are called to repentance : Mat.
ix. 13, 'I came to call sinners to repentance.' Those who know them
selves to be so and feel themselves to be so, these are most ready to
correct their errors, and to unravel that web which they have been
weaving for a snare to themselves. Others carry it as though they
needed no repentance. And also a sight of wrath ; for repentance is a
flight from wrath, a turning from God angry to God reconciled ; as
appeareth by Mat. iii. 7, ' Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath
to come ? ' Who will take care to run into his city of refuge who hath
not an avenger of blood at his heels ? Heb. vi. 18, ' That by two
immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might
have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope set before us.' Therefore God's first work is to awaken the
stupid and careless sinner, and to make him see his sinful and lost
condition.
2. Such an apprehension of God's mercy in Christ as maketh them
turn to him. The apprehension of God's mercy is the great induce
ment to repentance: Joel ii. 13, 'Turn to the Lord your God, for he
is gracious and merciful.' The former branch ariseth from appre
hended future wrath, this from the hope of . future mercy. Indeed
there is a continued repentance which followeth pardon, a melting of
heart and self-loathing, that floweth from felt love ; as Luke viL 47,
' The woman wept much because she loved much ; ' ' And she loved
much because much was forgiven her ; ' Ezek. xvi. 63, ' That thou
mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any
more ; because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee, for all
that thou hast done, saith the Lord God;' Ezek. xxxvi. 31, 'Then
shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not
good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities,
and for your abominations.' But the first repentance floweth not from
felt received mercy, but from mercy hoped for : Acts ii. 38, 39,
' Kepent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ,
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost; for the promise is unto you, and to your children/ &c. A
desire and love of the grace which we expect from God putteth us
upon this repentance.
3. In a grieving for and forsaking of our sins, and giving up our
selves to his service. Grief for sin there will be ; for, 2 Cor. vii. 10,
' Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be repented
of.' This is necessary to check the sensitive inclination, or the love of
pleasure, which is the root of sin. Not only a grieving for, but a for
saking of our sins : Prov. xxviii. 13, ' He that confesseth and forsaketh
his sin shall find mercy.' It is but a brabble with sin, not a repentance,
unless the love and power of it be weakened in the heart ; and there
fore repentance is not to be judged by the horror, the sorrow, the grief,
but by the change it worketh in heart and life; if sin becometh
hateful, if the person be humbled in himself, if he be brought to esteem
of and put a price upon God's grace in Jesus Christ ; if it be his con
stant care and study to please God, and he getteth some victory over
the sins he repenteth of ; and after all this, there is a devotedness to
SERMON UPON 2 PETER III. 9. . 229
God, or a living to his glory and service, called often in scripture a
living to God, or a bringing forth fruit unto God.
II. That this is God's end in continuing the world and the present
state of things. This I shall prove —
1. By removing false causes. To appearance there is a slackness.
Whence cometh it ?
[1.] It is not want of kindness, or backwardness to our good, that
he doth delay our reward and the introduction of the everlasting estate.
A man may defer and not be slack. He is slack who doth not come
at the due and appointed time. The time is set, though unknown to
us, and accordingly it shall be kept. God puts not off his coming, not
an hour after the time : Heb. x. 37, out of Hab. ii. 3, ' Yet a little
while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.' How
much ? how much ? ocrov, ocrov. He will not stay a moment after
the time appointed.
[2.] It is not ignorance, as not knowing the fittest time when to put
a period to the course of the world or of our lives. That cannot be
imagined, for his waiting is guided by judgment : Isa. xxx. 18, ' He
waiteth that he may be gracious ; for he is a God of judgment.' He
delayeth till the fit time come of putting an end to the troubles of the
faithful and the sins of the wicked ; for he guideth all things with
wisdom, and will take hold of the fittest season and occasion of putting
his designs in action.
[3.] It is not from forgetfulness of his promise, ' For he is ever
mindful of his holy covenant,' Ps. cxi. 5. He hath promised to come,
to accomplish the deliverance of his own, and the punishment of the
wicked, and he doth not forget what he hath promised.
[4.] Not from change of counsel ; for he is Jehovah, that changeth
not. Men change out of the mutability of their nature, or because
they have not a due foresight of all possible difficulties ; but, 1 Sam.
xv. 29, ' The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent ; for he is not a
man that he should repent.'
[5.] Not from impotency and weakness, as if he could not execute
what he hath promised. That among men is the cause of delay.
Men must do as they can. Sometimes they must be patient perforce;
they want strength to punish when they have a just cause, and a
good mind to it ; as when David had a strong mind to punish and put
Joab to death for the murdering of Abner, but Joab was too potent :
2 Sam. iii. 39, ' I am this day weak, though anointed king ; and these
men the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me/ They had too strong a
party in the army and among the soldiers. But this case is not
incident to God, who is able to dissolve all things in an instant, at the
beck and nod of his will.
2. By assignment of the true cause why the world and the present
state of things is not dissolved.
[1.] Many that belong to the purposes of God's grace are not yet
born and come into the world ; and all things in the world are con
tinued and preserved with a subserviency to God's decrees. This you
shall find in that sometimes providences are shortened : Mat. xxiv. 22,
' For the elect's sake those days shall be shortened ; ' that the nation
might not wholly be wasted and worn out, that they might not have
230 . SERMON UPON 2 PETEK III. 9.
too great a trial. God had elect among them, whom he would pre
serve ; the chosen among the Jews whom God would gather in the
appointed time. But, on the contrary, here in the text, time is
enlarged for their sakes. All particular providences wherein they are
concerned are dispensed with this reference, Rom. viii. 28 ; and all
that act under God are carried on with this encouragement. For the
apostle saith, 2 Tim. ii. 10, ' Wherefore I endure all things for the
elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ
Jesus with eternal glory.' Surely the apostle knew what was his
master's business, and for what end the gospel was to be preached,
whatever became of the messengers : ' I endure all things for the elect's
sake/ Providence being continued for their sakes, he was to continue
his labours in the gospel, whatever entertainment he met with.
[2.] Many of them are not yet converted. They are as yet brands
lying in the burning, hidden in the polluted mass of mankind, and God
will draw them forth ; for, John vi. 27, ' All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me.' And God will draw them forth in a way suitable
to his glory and their temper as men ; which requireth time till they
come to years of discretion, and pains to work upon their souls by
commands, threatenings, and promises, and alluring motives, and
sometimes disappointments in their worldly concernments ; and every
one of these multiplied one after another ; and after many refusals of
his renewed offers, and slighting means, they are at length gained and
overcome by his powerful love.
Observe here two things —
(1.) That God gaineth the elect by the same means which are pro
pounded to the reprobate. He dealeth in common with mankind in
the external means, showing no more favour to the one than to the
other. They both, it may be, live under the same ministry, yet one is
taken and the other is left.
(2.) That it is long ere many of the elect are gained. They may
withstand many a call, both from God's word and providence; but
because it is night for the present, we cannot say that it will never be
day. And then when they are gained, it requireth some time to bring
them to that measure of grace that God hath intended to work in
them, that he may fit them for glory, and we may grow into that
perfect age which we are appointed unto in Christ: Eph. iv. 13, ' Till
we all come to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ.' The edification of the body of Christ is a work
that is still kept afoot, until all that are given to Christ of the Father
be effectually called, and united with Christ the head, and every one of
them attain to their full and perfect measure of spiritual growth ; and
so long the world endureth.
[3.] The wicked by this forbearance of God are rendered more
inexcusable.
(1.) Because while they are in this life there is place for repentance.
It is a great mercy that they are not presently cut off and destroyed,
but that God giveth them opportunities of breaking off their sin by
repentance : Eev. ii. 21, ' I gave her space to repent, and she repented
not/ If God doth not suddenly execute judgment upon them, their
crime is the greater. It was a favour not vouchsafed to the angels;
SERMON UPON 2 PETER III. 9. 231
they were executed quickly : 2 Peter ii. 4, ' God spared not the angels
that . sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into
chains of darkness, to be reserved unto the judgment.' The angels
were the most glorious creatures, yet when they sinned against God
they were presently in termino, in their final estate. Man is yet in via,
in the way to a better estate. For God to batter to pieces vessels of
gold, as soon as they had the least crack and flaw in them, and spare
earthen vessels, this is the wonder of his mercy. Therefore it should
be esteemed as a great favour and indulgence that he doth not pre
sently thrust down sinners to hell as soon they do provoke him ; much
more that he hath provided a remedy, and ofFereth pardon to them,
and hath not secluded them from all possibility and hopes of recovery
for ever.
(2.) God provideth great helps and means of repentance for them ;
for he hath sent his messengers into all parts of the earth, and com
manded every one to repent and prepare for the judgment : Acts xvii.
30, ' And the times of their ignorance God winked at, but now com-
mandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a
day,' &c. ; so that the world now perisheth, for rejecting the means
tending to recover them. The sins of the nations were not so great
till God sent them the means. When the Lord giveth any people the
means to repent, their sin is the more aggravated, and their judgment
is the greater ; for the rejection of the means is a sin not only against
our duty but our remedy, and a vile ingratitude and obstinacy, which
hath no cloak and colour of excuse. For though men have an im po
tency of nature, and cannot convert themselves without the internal
efficacy and power of the Holy Ghost, yet the impotency of nature doth
not necessitate men to wallow in a course of sin against the light of
conscience, and to put away the means by which they might be
reformed.
III. What encouragement there is from God's long-suffering to
induce men to repentance. And —
1. God's 'forbearance, and continuing of some grace to us, possesseth
all men's minds with this apprehension, that he is gracious, merciful,
willing to be reconciled, if we will but accept of terms agreeable to his
glory and our good. Therefore it is said that ' the goodness of God
leadeth to repentance,' Kom. ii. 4 ; for wherefore should he defer ven
geance, and forbear so long to punish thy sinful course, but only that
thou mayest bethink thyself and make thy peace ? He could destroy
thee in an instant ; and why doth he not, but to see if thou wilt yet
repent, and love him, and serve him ? If a man were under a sentence
of death, and the execution were delayed and put off from day to day,
would not he think it were a fit time to interpose by supplication, and
obtain his pardon ? Surely we should gather the like conclusion, and
make supplication to our judge.
2. The encouragement is the greater, that we have not only time
and life, but many mercies, forfeited mercies, continued to us ; such as
food, raiment, friends, house, liberties, health, peace. What do all
these do but invite us to God ? For whosoever hath the heart of a
man would be thankful to his benefactor. Yea, the very beasts express
a gratitude in their kind to them that feed them : Isa. i. 3, ' The ox
232 SERMON UPON 2 PETER III. 9.
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib.' The dullest of the
brute beasts will take notice of such as feed them and make much of
them, and shall not we take notice of God, and be obsequious to him,
from whom we have received all our supplies, our Lord and owner,
who hath fed us and most kindly entreated us ? Hosea xi. 4, ' I drew
them with the cords of a man, the bands of love/ Unless we renounce
humanity, we cannot but look upon ourselves as having strong bands
upon us, obliging us to duty and mindfulness of God.
3. These mercies do not harden in their own nature, but merely by
the sinner's abuse of them ; for in their own nature they have a fitness
and tendency to recover men to the love and service of God, but through
our abuse they become snares, and entangle us in the service of the
flesh. In the creature there is something good to lead us up to God,
who is the first and chief good ; something imperfect, uncertain, and
unsatisfactory, to drive us off from itself. Is there anything comfort
able in the creature ? Whence came it ? who put it there ? Common
mercies point to their author, if we would recollect ourselves, and
receive them with thanksgiving. Is there vanity and vexation in it ?
why is it, but that the creatures may not detain us from God, that we
may not sit on the threshold when we may come before the throne ?
Our great fault is loving the creature above the Creator. Now the
creature is embittered, and is an occasion of so much vexation and
trouble, that we may not rest in itself. All the good that is in the
creature is an image of that perfect good which is in God. Now, who
would leave the substance to follow the shadow ? As if a virgin wooed
should fall in love with the messengers of a great king, and despise the
person himself. There is a sweetness in these things mixed with im
perfection ; the sweetness to draw us to God, the imperfection to drive
us off from the creatures, to make us look higher. They do as it were
say to us, We cannot satisfy you ; you must seek for happiness in that
God that made us and you. Now men are inexcusable if, after all
this, they forsake God for the creature : Jer. ii. 13, ' My people have
committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of. living
waters, and have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can
hold no water.'
4. God hath provided a remedy for us by Christ, whereby he would
astonishingly oblige men to seek after his own salvation : John iii. 16>
'God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son> that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.' There is love to the world in it ; there is man-kindness in it :
Titus iii. 4, 'After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour
toward man appeared." A propitiation for the whole world : 1 John
ii. 2, ' He is the propitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, but
for the sins of the whole world.' Here is a sufficient foundation for
this truth, that whosoever believeth shall be saved. If, after all this,
man shall be negligent, vain, careless, unmindful of his misery or
remedy, his own conscience will bear witness against him that the
cause of his sin and the hindrance of his recovery is from himself, and
from his own obstinacy and impenitency : Hosea xiii. 9, 'O Israel,
thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy hope.' God is not to be
blamed for our destruction ; it is of our own procuring. There was
help in God, but they would not accept it.
SERMON UPON 2 PETER III. 9. 233
5. Affected scruples whether this be intended to us, are a sin, and
do not disoblige us from our duty. They are a sin, because secret
things do not belong to us, but the open declarations of God concern
ing our duty : Deut. xxix. 29, ' Secret things belong unto the Lord -r
but those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children/
Let us perform our duty, and the secret purposes of God will be no bar
and hindrance to us. To betray a known duty by a scruple is the part
of an erring and deceitful heart. God may do what he pleaseth, but
we must do what he hath commanded. This is the only true principle
that will enable us to carry our work through to the last.
6. God hath appointed means, which during the time of his
patience are liberally vouchsafed to us ; and we being commanded to
use these means in order to our recovery, should lie at the pool and
wait for mercy. If we refuse the helps and the means, our condemna
tion is just ; we even pass it upon ourselves : Acts xiii. 46, ' Since ye
put away the word of God from you, ye judge yourselves unworthy
of everlasting life ; ' and become incapable and unworthy of any
benefit by the gospel. The giving of these manifold helps and means
on God's part showeth a great hopefulness of success, and such as may
encourage us cheerfully to perform our duty, and carry it through with
the expectation of a blessing ; but the refusal of these helps and
means on our part showeth we are intractable and disobedient, and
perish by our own obstinacy.
7. Because common mercies are our ruin, and our table a snare, and
our welfare a trap, and the ease and ' prosperity of fools slayeth them,'
Prov. i. 32; therefore God warneth us of danger of the abuse of
these mercies, telleth us of the corruption that is in the world through
lust, commandeth us and entreateth us to use them better, and to
remember him who giveth us comfortably and richly to enjoy these
things, 1 Tim. vi. 17, 18 ; sometimes taketh them out of our hands, as
a father would do a sharp knife out of the hands of a child ; prayeth
us that we will not love a perishing world, and forsake our own mercies ;
that we will not hazard eternal things for trifles. And after all these
warnings, who is to blame ?
8. God doth not presently give over dealing with the despisers of
his grace, or those that reject or neglect his blessed offers, but doth
defer punishment, draw out his patience towards them to the fullest
length. He yet tarrieth longer, to see if yet they will be in a better
mind : 1 Peter iii. 10, ' The long-suffering of God waited in the days
of Noah.' If, after all this, we be disobedient and incorrigible, what
place is fit for us but the prison of hell ?
Use 1. It showeth how cross to God's design they act who delay
repentance because God delay eth vengeance : Eccles. viii. 11, ' Because-
sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed, therefore the-
heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.' Men are apt
to do so, partly because they measure things by present sense. If it
be not ill with them for the present, they think to-morrow shall be as
yesterday. Partly because they think they shall have time enough to
repent at last, and so can be contented that God be longer dishonoured,
provided that they at length may repent and be saved ; though God
delayeth that you may take the season, not let it slip. Partly because
234 SEKMON UPON 2 PETER III. 9.
they abuse God's patience to atheism ; either denying providence,
saying, ' The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil,' Zeph. i.
12 ; as if God had forgotten the care of the world ; or else think
that God approveth their sin because they continue in health, peace, and
prosperity : Ps. 1. 21, ' These things hast thou done, and I kept silence ;
thou thoughtest,' &c. ; and so grow sensual and secure, and their hearts
more hard and impenitent, because God spareth them. This is to
' turn the grace of God into wantonness,' and to ' treasure up wrath,'
Bom. ii. 5. But though God bear long, he will not bear always. The
chimney long foul and not swept taketh fire at length: Ps. Ixviii. 21,
•' But he will wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of
every one that goeth on in sin.' Forbearance is not remission. Sentence
is past (John iii. 18, ' He that believeth not is condemned already '),
though not executed : Eccles. viii. 11, ' Because sentence is not speedily
executed,' &c. God may give sinners a long day, but reckoneth with
them at last : Rom. ix. 22, ' What if God, willing to show his wrath,
and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction ? ' There is suffering, long-
suffering, and much long-suffering ; yet all this while fitted for destruc
tion. When you have but a little space given you, will you frolic it
away in sins and carnal pleasures ? God is ' bending his bow, whetting
his sword, if they turn not ; he is angry with the wicked every day,' Ps.
vii. 11, 12; and at length his anger will break out if they turn not.
Use 2. What reason all of us have to bless God for his forbearance and
long-suffering, and to acknowledge it as a great mercy ; for his long-
suffering tendeth to repentance, either the beginning or the perfecting
of it. Now this mercy is the more enhanced when we consider —
1. What we have done against God. A good man cannot tell how
often he offendeth : Ps. xix. 12, ' Who can understand his errors ? ' Ps.
xl. 12, ' Innumerable evils have compassed me about ; they are more
than the hairs of my head.' God's people have cause to wonder at his
patience, as well as others.
2. What is the desert of sin in the general : Rom. vi. 23, .' The
wages of sin is death.'
3. The instances of those who have been taken away in their sins.
Zimri and Cosbi unloaded their lives and their lusts together. Lot's
wife in her looking back was turned into a pillar of salt : Luke xvii.
32, * Remember Lot's wife ; ' a lasting monument of rebellion against
God. Gehazi blasted with leprosy. Korah, Dathan and Abiram, the
•earth swallowed them.
4. With how much ease God can do the like to you : 1 Sam. xxiv.
19, ' If a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away ? ' when
he has a fair opportunity to satisfy his wrath. God can easily do
this : Job vi. 9, ' That he would loose his hand and cut me off/ With
one beck of his will he can turn us into our first nothing.
5. With how much justice and honour he might have taken us
&way long since, and have shut us up in chains of darkness, for a
monument to the careless world ! Sometimes God maketh instances
in every table : Rom. i. 18, ' The wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold
the truth in unrighteousness' In every law, both by way of omission
SERMON UPON 2 PETER III. 9. 235
and commission. Why might not I have served for one of these
instances ? '
6. How many mercies have been vouchsafed to you in the time of
God's long-suffering ? The mercies of daily providence : Ps. Ixviii.
19, ' Who loadeth us daily with his benefits.' Especially deliverances
out of imminent dangers, when you were snatched as a ' brand out of
the burning/ Amos iv. 11 ; and preserved in a general destruction :
Lam. iii. 22, ' It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.' Or when some disease hath been
upon you, that you thought you should have gone down to the chambers
of death : Ps. Ixxviii. 38, ' He being full of compassion, forgave their
iniquity, and destroyed them not ; ' that is, he respited his vengeance.
It is a kind of a pardon when God remitteth some measure of the
deserved punishment: so far as any part of the punishment is remitted,
so far is the same pardoned. Sometimes God seemeth to put the bond
in suit, but spareth upon our intercession. Now this should be taken
notice of, and notably improved. A man is sick, afraid to be damned,
but he recovers again. Now, though it be not a total pardon, we
cannot say it is none at all ; for God took such a one out of the jaws
of hell for that time. So Mat. xviii. 32, the debt was forgiven, yet
required afterwards : the meaning is, he was spared for the present ;
he did not obtain that full pardon which amounteth to justification,
yet he was recovered out of sickness, misery, and apparent danger, and
that upon his cry to God.
7. If you are continued till you have some experience of the grace
of Christ, then much more have you cause to bless God for his long-
suffering. How ill would it have been for your souls if you had died
in your sins ! God may say to you, as he did to his people, Isa. xliii.
24, 25, ' Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied
me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that blotteth out your
transgressions, for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins.' If
God had been quick with us, where should we have been ? We are
of an hot and eager nature, cannot bear affronts or despiteful usage :
Luke ix. 54, ' Lord, wilt thou that we call for fire from heaven to con
sume them, as did Elias ? ' This was James and John, beloved dis
ciples, €K\€KrS)v eK^e/cTOTepot. The fury of rash zeal appeared in the
best, even in the disciple of love ; but God does not deal so with us.
Use 3. To exhort to repentance. If a malefactor arraigned at the
bar of justice should perceive by any speech, or word, or gesture, sign,
or token, any inclination in the judge to mercy, how would he work
upon that advantage to get a reprieve and the execution put off !
So should we improve God's forbearance and long-suffering to sue out
a pardon.
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9.
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the
man which doth those things shall live by them. But the right
eousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine
heart, Who shall ascend into heaven! (that is, to bring Christ
down from above) ; or, Who shall descend into the deep ? (that is,
to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what saith it?
The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart ; that
is, the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. —
KOM. x. 5-9.
THESE words which I have now read need both vindication and expli
cation. My first work shall be —
First, Vindication, or reconciling Paul with Moses. That seemeth
difficult, because in the allegation some things are changed, some
things added, some things omitted, as appeareth by the collation of the
places, the text and Deut. xxx. 12-14, ' It is not in heaven, that thou
shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us,
that we may hear it, and do it ? neither is it beyond the sea, that thou
shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto
us, that we may hear it, and do it ? But the word is very nigh unto
thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.'
To avoid the difficulty, some say these words are alleged sensu tran-
sumptivo, only by way of allusion and accommodation ; not as inter
preting Moses, but as fitting them to his own purpose. But this I
cannot yield to, for these reasons —
1. From the scope of the apostle, which is to draw off the Jews
and Judaising brethren from sticking to the law of Moses as necessary
to justification. To do it thoroughly, he bringeth an argument from
Moses himself, who doth in his writings give a clear distinction
between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of faith,
and so, by consequence, between the tenor of the covenant of works
and the covenant of grace. Now, if it were an allusion only, the
apostle would produce a bare illustration, not a cogent argument, and
so would rather explain than convince.
2. The exposition itself is so clear, that we need not make it an
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9. 237
allusion, if we consider the place whence these passages are taken, Deut.
xxx. The whole chapter is a sermon of evangelical repentance ; see
the 1st and 2d verses, ' And it shall come to pass, when all these things
are come upon thee, the blesssing and the curse, which I have set
before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations
whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto
the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that
I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart
and with all thy soul.' This was spoken of a time which the Jews
themselves confess to belong to the kingdom of the Messiah ; and
reason showeth it. For the words were spoken by Moses as referring
to such a time when the Israelites were dispersed among all nations,
which happened not till after Christ's ascension and the preaching of
the gospel, and doth yet remain, and will remain until the conversion
of the Jews, of which the apostle will speak in the next chapter. So
that Moses' words are applicable to them when the gospel dispensation
was set on foot ; that was ' the word which was nigh them.' The
great prejudice of the Jews against Christ's being the Messiah was,
because he came not in a way agreeable to their carnal conceits, or
with such pomp and visible demonstration of authority as to satisfy
all his own countrymen ; therefore they were prejudiced, and would
not own him, nor receive the grace tendered by him, but looked for
that as afar off which was nigh them and among them ; and therefore
the apostle doth apply the words of Moses to them, to bring them to
embrace the new covenant.
3. From the nature of the thing.
[1.] Certain it is to us Christians that Moses wrote of Christ ; for
our Lord saith, John v. 46, ' Had you believed Moses, you would have
believed me ; for he wrote of me.'
[2.] If he wrote more obscurely, we must consider he was a prophet,
not an apostle.
[3.] That he wrote of Christ in this place, the apostle's authority
is sufficient, for he was a good interpreter. If he, being infallibly
assisted, saw more in it than we do, we are not to cavil at his autho
rity, but with reverence to receive this light ; not vex the citation by
nice disputes, but humbly receive the interpretation he giveth of it.
You will say the words are altered.
But the apostles usually in quoting minded the sense rather than the
words. And Moses' drift was to persuade them to take notice of the
divine revelation made to them at that time when these things befell
them, the destroying of the temple and city, and these dispersions among
the nations.
Secondly, For explication. The words show us two things — (1.)
What is the tenor of the legal covenant ; (2.) What is the tenor of the
righteousness of faith.
First, What is the tenor of the legal covenant ? Ver. 5, ' For
Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man
which doeth those things shall live by them/ For, understanding his
drift, you must consider this, that at the first promulgation of the
gospel, both Jews and gentiles were rivals for the favour and mercy of
Ood. They did both at the same time start and set forth as two racers,
238 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9.
striving who should win the goal or carry away the prize of justifica
tion. So the apostle represents them, Kom. ix. 30-32, ' What shall we
say then ? that the gentiles, which followed not after righteousness,
have attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith ;
but Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not
attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore ? Because they
sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law ; for they
stumbled at that stumbling-stone.' It is agreed among the learned
that the terms there used are agonistical, and that there is an allusion
to racers. The approbation or mercy of God was the prize that all
ran for, both Jews and gentiles; these were the two competitors. And
as in all racing, they had a law prescribed which they were to ob
serve, so both took their several ways. Now, who got the goal? The
Jews strained themselves all that they could to get it by their law,
and the gentiles by the law of faith. The business is, who would
soonest come to the goal, or be accounted favourites of God ? — the
gentiles, upon faith and repentance, though formerly they had been
idolaters.; or the Jews, that would be justified by the observances of
their law, rejecting Christianity ? The apostle determineth that the
Jews, though they did most earnestly contend to be justified by the law,
yet did not outrun the gentiles, so as to get to the goal, or obtain the
prize of justification from them. Why ? Because they sought it not
by the evangelical way, and could not endure it when it was revealed
to them, but thought their legal observances would commend them to
God, and so stumbled in the very midst of their race, out of impatiency
that their law should be abolished, and they levelled with the gentiles,
and required to believe in a Messiah who lived and died in a mean
condition ; and so they utterly miscarried in their pursuit of justifica
tion and acceptance with God. These were the two litigant parties,
and the case in debate at that time. Now, to take off the Jews from
this vain and dangerous attempt, the apostle bringcth the two ways to
a fair hearing, and proveth that the law can be no way to justify sinners,
even from Moses himself, whose authority they so much cried up. He
proveth it from his description of the righteousness which is by the law.
The sum of his argument is this, there is no justification but either by
the law or by faith ; you must forego the one, and cleave to the other,
for you cannot hold by both. Now you are left to your choice, which
way you will take to run to the goal and obtain the prize. If you will
hearken to Moses, he himself propoundeth two ways of justification —
by the law and by faith. What he saith of the righteousness of faith
we shall see by-and-by ; but what he saith of the righteousness of the
law is evident : ' The man that doeth these things shall live by them/
The law is no way to justify sinners, for by the law you are accursed
if you sin ; we cannot live if we do not all that is required of us and
contained in the law. Now, we that are conscious to so many frailties
have no reason to be fond of justification by the law, which exacteth
such a strict, rigid obedience in all moral duties, even to the least
tittle, and addeth so many burdensome ceremonies. The law promiseth
life on doing all that was required of them to do, and threatened a
curse on them that did it not, without allowing repentance ; but in the
law of faith, sure mercy and pardon is provided for the penitent believer.
SERMON UPON EOMANS X. 5-9. 239'
And therefore justification is not put upon such impossible and diffi
cult terms. It dependeth upon what Christ did for us, as he died, and
rose again ; and what we are to do ourselves is plain and easy : plain
to be understood, and easy by grace to perform.
Secondly, What is the tenor of the righteousness of faith ? This is
set forth negatively and positively ; what it saith not, and what it
saith.
1. Negatively, what it saith not : ver. 6, 7, ' But the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise : Say not in thy heart, Who
shall ascend into heaven ? (that is, to bring down Christ from above) ;
or, Who shall descend into the deep ? (that is, to bring up Christ
again from the dead).'
Here two questions are removed, as inconsistent with or improper to
the righteousness of faith —
[1.] The first, question, ' Who shall ascend into heaven ? ' that is, to
fetch the knowledge thence of heavenly mysteries, or to bring down
Christ from above ; as if he had never been on earth to make known
the doctrine of salvation, but were as yet to be called from heaven for
this purpose. No ; that is sufficiently done already : John iii. 13, ' No
man hath ascended up into heaven but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man, which is in heaven.' To comprehend heavenly
mysteries is Christ's prerogative, who came from the bosom of the
Father in our nature to communicate this knowledge to us, and to show
us upon what terms we may be justified before God, and enjoy his grace
and favour.
[2.] The second question is in the 7th verse, ' or, Who shall descend
into the deep ? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead).' In-
Moses it is, Deut. xxx. 13, ' Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou
shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that
we may hear it, and do it ? ' But the sea is sometimes considered for
its latitude and breadth, and sometimes for its profundity and depth ;
and so is often put in scripture for the bottomless pit, as opposite to-
heaven, heaven being highest, and the bottom of the sea lowest ; and is
frequently used for the bottomless pit, or the state of the dead. Tile-
meaning is, You need not say, Who shall bring up Christ again from
the dead ? as if he were yet in the grave, and all hopes of salvation-
were buried with him, since long ago he is risen from the dead, and
ascended into heaven, and hath sent abroad his messengers to pro
selytise the world, endowing them with power from on high for this
work.
2. Positively, 'But what saith it?' Where take notice of— (1.) The*
words ; (2.) The sense.
[1.] What words are put into the mouth of the righteousness whicli
is by faith : ver. 8, ' The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in
thy heart.' It is 'in thy mouth,' to know it and speak of it ; it is 'in
thy heart/ as written there by the Spirit, that we may do the duty it
requireth of us with ease and sweetness. It is ' in thy mouth ' to con
fess, and ' in thy heart ' to believe and practise. When the new cove
nant is spoken of as opposite to the covenant made with them when
they came out of Egypt, it is said sometimes to be put into the mouth,
and sometimes in the heart. The words are, Isa. lix. 21, ' As for me,
240 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9.
This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord ; My Spirit that is
upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not
depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of
the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for
ever.' Meaning thereby that his Spirit and word shall continue with
them as a church, to direct them in all necessary things. This for ' the
mouth.' Now for ' the heart.' See another promise : Jer. xxxi. 33,
' And this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel ; I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.' Well,
then, the excellency of the gospel dispensation is set forth by two
things —
(1.) It is more easy to be known and understood, and carried in the
memory ; for ' the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth.' The drift
of Moses' speech tendeth to show that they should have a new cove
nant, the tenor of which was known, and easy to be expressed by all
those who were acquainted with it.
(2.) It is more easy to be practised. It is not in our mouths only,
but ' in our hearts ; ' which are inclined by the Holy Spirit to obey
it; so that the new creature may undertake the duty it requireth of
us by the assistance of God, and do it sincerely, though not exactly.
[2.] The sense of what it saith. It is explained and exemplified.
(1.) Explained: ver. 8, 'This is the word which we preach;'
namely, the doctrine of repentance and remission of sins by Jesus
Christ.
(2.) Exemplified : ver. 9, ' That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.' Confession with the mouth
there answers to ' the word is in thy mouth : ' ' believe with thine heart,'
that implieth faith ; and Christ's being raised from the dead is in
stanced in, rather than any other article of faith, because that proveth
all the rest, and is the great evidence of the truth of Christianity.
Doct. That the way of acceptance with God, or obtaining salvation,
is so clearly stated in the gospel, that we need not be in doubtful sus
pense, or seek out another religion wherein to find it, or other satisfac
tion than God hath given us in his word.
The sense of this point I shall give you in these propositions —
• First, That it is the weightiest matter in the world to know how to
be accepted with God as to pardon and life. Man, being a guilty
creature, needeth pardon ; and the soul dying not with the body, we
desire to know, the way of life, or what shall become of us when this
frail life is at an end. Certain it is that we are haunted with guilty
fears ; for we are ' through the fear of death all our lifetime subject to
bondage,' Heb. ii. 15. There are some troubles of mind in all of us
about our acceptance with God; not always felt indeed, but soon
awakened. Trembling souls, who know what God is, and what
themselves are, and are conscious to former guilt and present un-
worthiness, cannot easily settle in a confidence of God's mercy to them,
especially when they come to die. The fear of death raised our
trouble before, but when death cometh indeed, these stings are
increased : 1 Cor. xv. 56, ' The sting of death is sin ; ' and these stings
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9. 241
of conscience are justified by the highest reason, which is the law of
God ; not occasioned by our melancholy conceits only. It is an
amazing consideration to us to think of entering into an unknown
world, and to stand before the righteous bar of an impartial judge.
That it is very hard to undergo death with a steady confidence, and to
encourage our fearful and doubtful minds to launch out into eternity,
common experience verifieth. I pray, consider, Christians, that our
present condition is a state of darkness and fear ; and these fears are
caused by sin, and justified by the law of God, and revived by death
and the thoughts of the other world. And therefore there is not a
weightier business than to establish our fearful and doubtful minds in
peace, that we may comfortably wait for the mercy of God unta eternal
life.
Secondly, That is the best religion which doth most provide for this
peace and rest of soul. So that if a man were at liberty to choose, and
were consulting what religion he should choose, this consideration
must guide him where he can find true peace and rest for his anxious
soul. So the prophet directeth them : Jer. vi. Ifr, ' Stand ye in the
ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way ? and
walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls.' And by this
argument Christ inviteth us to himself : Mat. xi. 28, 29, ' Come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in
heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls/ And the apostle com-
mendeth the gospel upon this account : Kom. v. 1, ' Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus.'
It is easy to lull conscience asleep for a while ; either — (1.) By carnal
pleasures : Prov. ix. 17, ' Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in
secret is pleasant.' For a while they seem so, but the virtue of that
opium is soon spent. Or (2.) By a false religion ; but within a while
we shall soon find that is so far from being our cure, that it is a great
part of our disease ; no false religion^is consistent with right thoughts
of God. Therefore the woman of Samaria, as soon as she began to
have an awakened conscience, inquires after the true religion : John
iv. 20, ' Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and ye say in Jeru
salem is the place where men ought to- worship.' An awakened con
science will be careful to lay the groundwork of religion sure. A false
way of religion always breedeth scruples, and is accompanied with no
sound peace. Or (3.) In the superficial observances of a true religion :
Mat. xix. 20, ' All these things have I kept from my youth up. What
lack I yet ? ' A false righteousness will not give true quietness to the
conscience; there is something lacking, and the soul sits uneasy.
Therefore nothing but coming under the power of the true religion
will give rest and quiet to the soul.
Thirdly, That the Christian religion doth abundantly provide for
true peace of conscience and ease of mind — (1.) Because it disco vereth
the matter of true peace ; (2.) The way how it may be attained.
1. The matter of true peace is pardon and life, or sufficient pro
vision to appease our guilty fears and satisfy our desires of happiness.
[1.] Man being God's creature, and therefore his subject, and having
faulted in his obedience and subjection to him, and knowing the
VOL. XVIII. Q
242 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9.
judgment of God, counteth himself ' worthy of death,' Kom. i. 32.
And this fear of death and vengeance -that ensueth is BO engrained
and implanted in the conscience, that unless some fit course of pardon
and justification be propounded, and that with good authority, man is
always restless and troubled, and knoweth not what to do to get rid
of the sin of his soul : Micah vi. 7, ' Shall I give my first-born for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? ' Now the
great design which the scriptures travail with is, to set forth a grant
of pardon upon gracious and commodious terms, if sinners will but
accept of it. It is the /excellency of the Christian religion above all
other religions : Micah vii. 18, ' Who is a God like unto thee, that
Sardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of
is heritage ? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth
in mercy.' If the question were put to you, which was put to the
spouse, Cant. v. 9, ' What is thy beloved more than another beloved ? '
what is there in Christ above other gods of the nations, that you make
so much ado about him ? what is it draweth your hearts, so to love
him, and cleave to him, in the greatest hazards and extremities ? —
this you might answer, He hath set afoot a pardoning covenant, so
suited to the necessities of man and the nature of God, that all the
world cannot show the like.
[2.] For the other matter of our peace, a fit happiness to satisfy
our desires. Man, having an immortal spirit, gropeth about for an
immortal and eternal good, Acts xvii. 27, or such an estate in the other
world as may comfort him against the labours and sorrows and the
frailty and shortness of the present life. All nations have a conceit of
the immortality of the soul ; if at any time they doubt of it, they
cannot wholly blot the sense of it out of their hearts. Surely all desire
it, and it would give much ease to their mind if it might be indubi
tably made out to them that there is such an immortal estate. They
that fully knew it not were pleased with the shadow of it, and sought
it in fame ; they would not have their memory die with them. As those
that want children take pleasure in little dogs and cats, so did they
embrace a poor shadow for the substance. To be sure, most men die
anxious, and when they leap into eternity, they know not where their
feet shall light ; but now it is said, 2 Tim. i. 10, that ' Christ hath
abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel.' He hath made a clear revelation of that which
was not so certainly known before. The heathens guessed at it ; some
times they seemed to see it, and sometimes doubted of it; as men
travelling sometimes see a spire of a steeple before them at a distance,
and anon they lose the sight of it again, and so cannot tell certainly
whether they see it, yea or no. The law, like a dumb man, made many
signs, and set forth eternity by long life, and heaven by Canaan ; but
now the gospel clearly speaketh it out, and scattereth all the mists and
clouds about eternity.
2. The way how we surely may be made partakers of pardon and
life; and there it telleth us — (1.) What Christ hath done; (2.)
What we must do. Christ hath sufficiently laid the foundation, and
all that we must do is but to apply what he hath purchased and
provided for us.
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9. 243
[].] What Christ hath done. ' The word that is nigh thee* refer-
reth to things already done for us — Christ's death and resurrection.
'(1.) His incarnation and death ; for Christ needeth not to be
brought down from heaven any more. He once descended from
heaven, and was made flesh, and dwelt among us, for a double end —
partly to reveal these things to us, and the way how to obtain them,
with sufficient evidence and certainty. One great errand that he had
in the world was to reveal the will of God to lost mankind for their
recovery, and to bring them to the fuller knowledge of God, and the
pardon of sins, and the truth of the unseen world, and the way there
unto : Luke i. 77, ' To give knowledge of salvation unto his people,
by the remission of their sins.' And not only so, but partly also to
be a mediator and reconciler between God and man, and lay down
his life as a sacrifice for sin and a ransom for souls : Eph. v. 2, ' Who
hath given himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God ; ' Mat.
xx. 28, ' He gave his life a ransom for many.' We have both, Heb.
iii. 1, 'Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Jesus
Christ.' Well, then, herein lay the advantage of the gospel above the
law ; that required all to be done by us, but the gospel referreth us to
things already done for us by another, who was sent from God to
reveal his Father's will to us, and to redeem us to God. He suffered
the penalty due for our breach of the law ; there is nothing required
of us but our thankful acceptance and hearty consent to follow Christ's
conduct and direction. Well, then, he needeth not to be brought
down from heaven any more, or descend to help and redeem the
world.
(2.) His resurrection and ascension ; for that is the second ques
tion: 'WTho shall descend into the deep, to bring up Christ again
from the dead ? ' No ; that needeth not. He is risen already, and
gone again to heaven, to assure us of the truth of his doctrine, and the
value of his sacrifice, and the reality of the other world ; for he him
self is entered into the glory he spake of, and so giveth us a visible
demonstration of the truth and reality of it ; and also he is set down
at the right hand of God, that he might apply salvation to us by his
powerful and all-conquering Spirit. But it is the resurrection we
must chiefly insist upon ; for God by raising him from the dead hath
declared him to be a sufficiently authorised messenger, and set him
forth to be the person to be believed in, heard, and obeyed in his
name. When Christ was crucified and buried, though a gravestone
was sealed, and a guard of soldiers set to watch it, yet angels appeared
and rolled away the stone, and spake to those that inquired after him.
Yea, Christ himself often appeared to his disciples, conversed with
them forty days, instructed them in things pertaining to the kingdom
of God, and then went to heaven, and poured out the Spirit ; and for
an hansel to the new gospel, by Peter's exhortation three thousand were
converted at once, and afterwards evidenced the truth of their doctrine
by miracles. There is no need that Christ should rise again in the
eye and view of all those that would believe in him. Here is ground
enough in that which was once already done.
[2.] What we must do: ver. 9, 'Confess with the mouth, and
believe with the heart;' that is, be really persuaded of the truth of
244 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9.
what is done for us, and thankfully own it and acknowledge it to the
world, resigning up ourselves to the discipline of his Spirit, whatever
it costs us. This is all that is required of us. But though these two
only be mentioned, we must understand those things which belong to
either of them.
(1.) To begin with that first mentioned : ' If thou wilt confess with
thy mouth.' There is a confession both in word and deed ; the one
must not contradict the other. The apostle telleth us of some that
' profess they know God, but in works they deny him,' Titus i. 16.
So it is true of confessing Christ, or holiness of life. Works are a
part of profession or confession ; as also invocation is a branch of this
confession, as appeareth by the 13th verse, ' For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Confession, then, implieth
all visible godliness and holiness of life, for the holy, thankful life is a
constant hymn to God, or a practical acknowledgment of the benefits
we have by Christ ; and so all Christianity is a confession. It is neces
sary also that this confession be made in spite of all persecutions and
danger : Heb. iv. 14, ' Let us hold fast our profession.' In those days,
believing with the heart was not so costly as confession with the mouth.
It exposed them to great troubles ; yet a Christian must be resolute,
and trust Christ with all : Dan. vi. 10, ' Now when Daniel knew that
the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his window being
open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three
times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did
aforetime.'
(2.) So for the other. ' Believing with the heart ' implieth not a dead
faith, but operative: James ii. 20, 'Faith without works is dead/ Not
a cold opinion, but such as ' worketh by love,' Gal. v. 6. Not a gene
ral assent, but an applicative faith : Gal. ii. 20, ' Who loved me, and
gave himself for me ; ' 1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a faithful saying, and worthy
of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.' Owning him as our Lord and Saviour. Do this,
and then you believe with the heart to righteousness, and confess with
the mouth to salvation ; that is, you are so pardoned that at length you
are saved. They that could thus take Christ, and venture all upon the
security of his word, and wholly resign up themselves to God upon
these hopes, were in a safe condition, or a state of peace.
Fourthly, The gospel so clearly stating these things, there is no
reason of doubtful suspense. All demurring must be upon one of these
two reasons — either the difficulty of the thing, or want of certainty; but
neither of them is just in this case.
1. Not the difficulty of the conditions ; for believing with the heart
and confessing with the mouth are easy to be understood and easy to
be observed, by the power of the Spirit ; for ' the gospel is the power
of God to salvation,' Rom. i. 16. If God will put this into our heart and
mouth, and give what he requireth, why should we snuff at these condi
tions as unreasonable and troublesome ? What more reasonable than to
own him with the greatest hazard from whom we expect such benefits
as pardon and life, and to consent to follow his direction, who will bring
us out of our misery to perfect happiness ? and to venture all for
him who, by a condescending a'ct of astonishing love, stooped so low
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9. 245
for us ? It is true, confession may be costly, but it is not an impos
sible thing. We should be willing to suffer the loss of all things for
his sake ; especially when God is ready powerfully to assist and help
us : Phil. iv. 13, ' I can do all things through Christ, which strength-
eneth me.'
2. Want of certainty. We do not know whether this be the way of
God, yea or no ? I answer —
[1.] There is no doubt that reasonably can be urged. Either this
is the way of God, or none. The way of heathenism is sottish and fabu
lous : 1 Cor. viii, 5, ' They have lords many and gods many.' And
the way of the Jews yieldeth no relief, if the gospel be excluded. The
way of the Mahometans is ridiculous and beareth no dispute. There
fore this is the way, or none.
Object. But why do you hesitate ? You did not see Christ in the
flesh.
A ns. But we may love him for all that, and believe in him, though
we never saw him : 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom, having not seen, ye love, in
whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice.' He must
not be fetched out of heaven again, nor raised from the dead again.
It is not necessary to our faith that we should see Christ with bodily
eyes, when we have most certain and firm arguments by which his
resurrection may be proved.
Object. But we live not in the age of miracles, oracles, and visions,
which people had in former times.
Ans. Man is apt to indent with God, and to prescribe to God that
he may believe upon terms of his own making : ' Let him now come
down from the cross, then we will believe him/ Mat. xxvii. 42 ; ' Can
he prepare a table in the wilderness ? ' Ps. Ixxviii. 19 ; 'If thou be
the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread/ Mat. iv. 3.
We are not to think that God should be at our beck, and do what we
require. Many require new apostles and miracles ; that rnaketh them
turn sceptics and atheists. We must not prescribe to God how he
shall reveal his mind to men, but submit to the way he seeth best and
fittest for us.
[2.] There lie more prejudices by far against any way of our own
devising than the course God hath taken. The people slighted Moses,
and would hear God himself speak ; but when it thundered upon the
mount, they cried out, Exod. xx. 19, * Speak thou with us, and we will
hear ; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' We would have
miracles, but thereby the simplicity of Christianity is lost, and it would
lay us open to the juggling tricks of wonder-mongers, and that would
be little for our safety. We would have one from the dead, Luke xvi.
30 ; but they are out of the sphere of our commerce ; that is no
familiar way, nor so fit to instil faith and reduce men to obedience to
God. And if we should learn our religion from ghosts and apparitions,
we should never be free from delusion : Gal. i. 8, ' But though we or
an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which
we have preached unto you, let him be accursed/
[3.] Extraordinary means will do no good where ordinary prevail
not. But man is never satisfied with the present dispensation : Pa
Ixxviii. 22, 23, ' But they believed not in God, and trusted not in his
246 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9.
salvation, though he had commanded the clouds from above, and
opened the doors of heaven.' Whatever means God useth, man is
man still. There were carnal wretches when there were miracles, and
so there will be still. When the heart is out of order, bare means will
not set it in frame.
[4.] Though we live not in the age of miracles and oracles, yet if we
have valuable testimony of them, it is enough to beget faith : Ps.
Ixxviii. 5-7, ' He commanded our fathers that they should make them
known to their children, that the generation to come might know them,
even the children that should be born, who should arise and declare
them to their children, that they might set their hope in God.1 It
were endless to attest former miracles with a new supportation of
miracles ; report is enough to convey them to us ; and if we cannot
contradict them, why do we not believe ?
Use I. To check the dream of the efficacy of extraordinary means
above the ordinary, which God seeth fit to give us. Our Lord imper-
sonateth our thoughts : Luke xvi. 30, 31, 'If one went unto them
from the dead they would repent. And he said unto them, They
have Moses and the prophets ; if they hear not them, neither will
they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.' We think the
word is an antiquated, stale dispensation, that hath lost all its force.
If God would assure us and invite us to faith and repentance some
other way, it would be more successful ; as if one came from the other
world, or an extraordinary messenger from heaven or hell. Let us
argue the case. It must be either because he is supposed to bring a
more necessary doctrine to work men to faith and repentance, or can
urge better arguments, or with more persuasiveness, or propound these
truths with more certainty, or convey a power greater than is ordinarily
dispensed by the word. It must be one of these four things, but
neither the one nor the other can be.
1. Not a doctrine more necessary to convince men of their misery
and remedy, sin and duty. The Son of God is a sufficient teacher of
all divine things, for he lay ' in the bosom of God/ John i. 18 ; and
he came on purpose to reveal what was necessary to man's salvation.
2. Not better arguments to enforce it. What ! would we have an
hotter hell or a better heaven, more direful threatenings, or sweeter
promises, or more powerful motives ? Surely nothing can be added.
What is beyond eternal misery or eternal happiness ?
3. Not propound these things with more certainty ; for these things
are offered to our understandings by a full and fair credibility. Christ
being fore- described by prophecies, authorised by miracles, mightily
declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead,
requiring nothing of us but what is suited to God's nature and our
necessity. What certainty would a spectre, or ghost, or an angel, or
apparition give above this ?
4. Nor convey a greater power and force to affect the heart of man.
What is of greater efficacy than the Spirit of God ? Surely he is able
to change the heart of man when nothing else can. Now the gospel
is ' the ministration of the Spirit,' 2 Cor. iii. 8. [See these heads more
enlarged in the Sermon on Luke xvi. 30, 31.]
Use 2. If God hath so settled the way of salvation in the new cove-
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9. 247
nant as to leave no cause or occasion of doubting, or suspecting of the
truth or certainty of these blessings he hath promised to us, then we
should not live in jealousies and doubtfulness, as if we were not upon
sure terms with God. If we transact with another about certain
benefits, the transaction may prove to no purpose if the matter about
which we contract with them hath no being, or the terms be impos
sible, or the conveyance be not so firm and strong as to hold good in
law. Now none of these can be imagined in our entering into covenant
with God. For —
1. Eternal life is not a chimera, or a thing that hath no being:
then you might ' run uncertainly,' 1 Cor. ix. 26, if it were a dream,
or a well-devised fable. No ; it is the greatest reality that can be
thought of : John xiv. 2, ' In my Father's house are many mansions ;
if it were not so, I would have told you : I go to prepare a place for
you/ Christ would not flatter us into a fool's paradise.
2. It is not upon impossible terms, but such as are performable by
the grace of God ; as faith : Eph. ii. 8, ' For by grace ye are saved,
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.' And
the apostle telleth us, Kom. iv. 16, 'Therefore it is of faith, that it
might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the
seed.' Consider the conditions that concern either the making or
keeping covenant. The conditions for making covenant : Jer. xxiv. 7,
' I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God ; for they shall return unto
me with their whole heart ; ' and Ezek. xxxvi. 26, ' A new heart will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of
flesh.' Then for keeping covenant ; for this is a covenant that keepeth
us, as well as we keep it : Jer. xxxii. 40, 41, ' I will make an everlast
ing covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do
them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not
depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and
I will plant them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart, and with
my whole soul.' So there is a promise of influences, to prevent danger
of discovenanting : Ezek. xxxvi. 27, ' I will put my spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments
and do them.'
3. If the conveyance be not so strong and firm to make a plea in
law ; but this is conveyed by God's word, and confirmed by his oath :
Heb. vi. 17, 18, ' Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show
unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have strong consolation.' It is assured to us
by his own Son : Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock ; for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom ; ' and sealed to us by
Christ's Spirit : 2 Cor. i. 22, ' Who hath also sealed us, and given the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.' Therefore the conveyance will bear
a plea, both now in prayer and before the tribunal of God. If there
be any room of doubting, it must be as to our qualification, and there
fore that you must make more explicit; but as to that, remember
that all the qualifications of the gospel must be evangelically interpreted,
248 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 5-9.
not legally ; not in absolute perfection, but in a prevalent degree : our
graces must be tried by the touchstone, not by the balance ; that they
be of the right kind, though they are not full weight.
Use 3. If the Christian religion be true, then we must love Christ
and live to him, obey his precepts and depend on his promises. Sal
vation is brought home to our doors. God hath left it to our choice.
' The word is nigh thee ; ' the way is plain, clear, and open. Do you
therefore choose it
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the
mouth confession is made to salvation. — EOM. x. 10.
MANY complain that, through the multitude of directions, religion is
made long and tedious ; therefore it is good sometimes to bring it into
a narrower compass. We need both methods — a larger delineation of
Christianity, that we may know a Christian in his full length and
stature ; and at other times a shorter view, or tablet, that we may
know him, if not by the whole body, yet at least by his face. The
text is of the latter sort, a summary or abridgment of Christianity, and
therefore deserveth to be the more narrowly weighed by us. There
are two great concernments of mankind as they stand in relation
to God — righteousness and salvation ; and this text discovereth how
you may obtain both — by believing and confession. By believing we
obtain righteousness, and by confession we obtain salvation. It is a
pity we should miss of such great benefits when such easy and com
fortable conditions are required of us. The one of these acts is said
to be done with the heart, the other with the tongue and mouth :
' For with the heart man believeth/ &c.
In the words two duties are mentioned, and two privileges.
The apostle had before attributed salvation to both : ver. 9, * If
tbou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved.' Now here he maketh a partition, a,nd distributeth the effects ;
ascribing righteousness to faith, and salvation to confession ; which is
done partly for the elegancy of speech, that the period may run more
roundly ; partly because there is a reason in the thing itself ; for our
right to justification is begun by faith, and continued by confession
unto salvation. As soon as we heartily believe in Christ, we are
accepted as righteous with God, and continuing in the confession of
this faith, we at length attain salvation. Faith is a means to be
justified, and confession is a means to be saved. And look, what con
fession is to faith, the same is salvation to righteousness. Confession
is the fruit and effect of faith ; for the tongue confesseth what the
heart first believeth. So the fruit and effect of righteousness is sal
vation ; for it is said, ' The gift of righteousness shall reign in life.'
And justification is called, 'Justification unto life/ Bom. v. 17, 18.
Eternal life is the completion of justification. If the fruit and effect
doth not follow faith, neither will the fruit and effect follow righteous-
250 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10.
ness. As soon as we believe, God pardoneth our sins, and giveth us a
right to salvation ; but he doth not presently give us salvation itself,
to leave a time for faith to produce its fruits and effects, and to show
our gratitude for so great a benefit done unto us by all holy conversa
tion and godliness.
Well, then, these two, faith and confession, they — (1.) Agree in
their object ; for the same truth is both believed and confessed, that
the Lord Jesus is the Saviour of the world, who died for our offences,
and rose again for our justification. But (2.) They differ in their
proper seat and subject. The subject of faith is the heart, and the
subject of confession is the mouth, or outward man. (3.) They some
what differ in the benefits to which they are referred ; faith to
righteousness, and confession to salvation. The connection between
both is appointed by God's order. (4.) They somewhat differ also in
their nature and use. Faith is the beginning of Christianity, and con
fession our perseverance in the profession and solid practice of it.
Faith is our first consent to become Christ's disciples ; confession is a
declaration of our faith, or an open performance of what we have con
sented unto. Both make a Christian complete. All the heart-work is
implied in faith, and all the life-work is implied in confession ; for it
containeth in itself many acts of godliness. In short, here is embrac
ing the Christian religion, and living answerably. God hath made it
necessary that by a cordial faith we should obtain righteousness and
justification ; and being justified, we should go on to obtain eternal
salvation.
You will say, If this be all that is required to make us Christians,
then Christianity is easy indeed. I answer —
1. We have no reason to represent it burdensome ; but yet both
these duties have their difficulties. ' Believing with the heart,' a doc
trine so strange to flesh and blood, and of such an holy and heavenly
nature, is no slight thing ; therefore God giveth us this grace : Eph.
ii. 8, ' By grace ye are saved, through faith ; and it is the gift of God.'
And ' confessing with the mouth ' is no easy task neither, especially
when the fear of man is apt to check it, and this confession exposeth
us to hazards and dangers. To believe and suffer is another special
gift of God : Phil. i. 29, ' For to you it is given, in the behalf of
Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.' If
confession be a cheaper duty now, it is God's mercy to spare us. We
know not how soon it may become more hard and hazardous.
2. The duties always have their difficulty, if rightly understood ;
for if we believe so as to be affected with what we believe, so as to be
drawn off from what we love, confess so as to practise what we confess,
and be true to it, nothing can be added. The scripture supposeth
that we are rational creatures, that we will act as we understand, and
that we are sincere in our profession, and that we will do what we
confess we are bound to do.
Doct. All that would be accepted with God unto righteousness and
life must be such as believe in Christ with the heart, and openly con
fess with the mouth that he is the Son of God and the Saviour of the
world.
I shall do these three things —
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10. 251
1. Open the nature of faith and confession.
2. Show the respect between them.
3. That God hath established faith as the means to be justified, and
confession as the means to be saved.
I. To open the nature of faith and confession.
First, Faith is such a knowledge of Christ as doth not hover in the
brain, but is seated in the heart ; and may be determined, partly by
the object or matter believed, partly by the subject of it, or the acts of
the soul towards it.
1. The object, or matter believed, is in short this : that there is a
God, Heb. xi. 6. That God, having made man, he hath right and
power over him, to govern him by his laws : James iv. 12, ' There is
one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.' That man, failing
in his obedience, he and all his posterity are subject to the wrath and
vindictive justice of God : Kom. iii. 19, ' That all the world may
become guilty before God ; ' Eph. ii. 3, ' And were by nature children
of wrath, even as others.' That such was God's love, that, to recover
man out of this wretched condition, he sent his own Son into the world,
John iii. 16 ;' That Jesus Christ, who was the Son of God, died for
our offences, and rose again for our justification/ Kom. iv. 25 ; that
is, died to expiate our sins, and rose again to convince the unbelieving
world of the authority and dignity of his person and offices, and also
of the truth of his law and covenant ; that having died and rose again,
he hath acquired novum jits imperil, a new right of command and
empire over the world : Kom. xiv. 9, ' For this cause he both died, and
rose again, and revived, that he might be Lord of dead and living ; '
that is, have full power and dominion to dispose of us, dead and living.
That Christ, having this full power and dominion over all flesh, hath
established and enacted a law of grace, or new covenant, wherein par
don and righteousness, or title to life, is assured to penitent believers :
Mark xvi. 16, 'Whosoever belie veth shall be saved;' and Luke
xxiv. 47, ' And that repentance and remission of sins be preached in
his name to all nations.' And shall actually be bestowed upon all
that obey him, Heb. v. 9. But those that refuse this Christ shall be
eternally miserable : John iii. 19, ' This is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light,
because their deeds are evil/ This is the sum of what is to be
believed.
2. It may be determined partly by the subject of it, or the acts of
the soul about it. The subject is the heart, both understanding and will.
The understanding assents to all this as true, both what is said of the
person of the Kedeemer and his covenant, and accordingly disposeth
the heart of man to carry itself towards both.
[1.] To the person of the Kedeemer. We thankfully and broken-
heartedly receive him to the ends of the gospel, or to be to us what
God hath appointed him to be, and do that for us that God hath
appointed him to do for poor sinners. To be our Lord and Saviour,
John i. 12, Col. ii. 6, as Lord to obey him, and as Saviour to depend
upon him, and trust ourselves in his hands for our happiness, what
ever befalleth us : 2 Tim. i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed, and
am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day.'
252 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10.
[2.] Towards the covenant, which he hath appointed as the law or
rule of commerce between us and God. There are promises and
precepts, commands and offers of grace. (1.) For the promises, you
heartily accept them as the greatest happiness that can be bestowed
upon you, and depend upon them as things that surely will be per
formed ; for there comes in the consideration of true and good : 1 Tim.
i. 15, ' This is a true and faithful saying ; ' Eph. i. 13, ' In whom ye
trusted after ye heard the word of truth ; ' as true, doubts are opposite
to them ; as good, carnal inclinations. (2.) For the precepts and
duties required ; you bind yourselves to perform them upon these
hopes, whatever it cost you ; and there comes into the nature of faith
sincere resolution and absolute self-denial ; sincere resolution to per
form what God hath required, that you may obtain what he hath offered,
which is called a giving up of ourselves to the Lord, 2 Cor. viii. 5 ;
and absolute self-denial, or selling all for the pearl of price, Mat. xiii.
46 ; and so that faith, which is made such a difficult thing to explain,
as it were, a bugbear to affright poor Christians from all thoughts and
study about it, is made easy and facile to the understandings of the
meanest Christians, who must live by it, and be saved by it. This then
is believing with the heart.
Secondly, What is confession with the mouth ? A solemn outward
declaration that we take Christ for our Lord and Saviour, or that we
believe what is revealed to us concerning God and Christ, and our duty
to him. This is necessary, because the promises of the new covenant
run in both strains ; of putting the word in our heart, Jer. xxxi. 37,
and putting it in our mouths, Isa. lix. 21. The saints' prayers are, that
God would not take it out of their hearts, Ps. cxix. 36, nor out of
their mouths : ver. 43, ' Take not the word of truth utterly out of
my mouth.' And the nature of their duty to God requireth it ; for a
man is first to embrace the true religion, to receive it with his heart,
and then he is to profess it, or express it with his mouth ; for no man is
to conceal and keep his religion to himself. Our tongues and our bodies
were given us to show forth that acknowledgment and adoration of
God which is in our hearts. He that denieth God or Christ with the
heart, doth not believe in him or worship him with the heart. So he
doth not worship God with his tongue and life who doth not outwardly
profess and honour him. As he hath given us an understanding that
we may know him, so he hath prepared for us a body wherewithal to
profess him, and our esteem of him : Isa. xlv. 23, ' To me every knee
shall bow, and every tongue shall swear ; ' which is again repeated
and established as our duty in the gospel: Phil. ii. 10, 11, 'At the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord.'
But more distinctly to open this confession with the mouth.
1. The matter to be confessed is the great truths which we do
believe — God, Christ, the covenant of grace, eternal glory and happiness;
and the lesser truths in their season at other times : Rom. xiv. 22,
' Hast thou faith ? have it to thyself before God.' It is not meant of
the necessary articles of the Christian belief, but things of a doubtful
disputation. If we know more than others in these things, yet we
must not needlessly trouble the church, or offend the weak to the
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10. 253
danger of their souls and hindrance of greater truths ; and yet in these
things, you must not deny the smallest truth : 2 Cor. xiii. 8, ' We can
do nothing against the truth, but for the truth ; ' for though the thing
we contend for be small, yet sincerity is a great matter, and to profess
our assent and consent to what we neither count true nor can well approve
of, is to come under a fellowship of the guilt of undermining truth and
godliness.
2. The ways by which we make this profession. The mouth is only
mentioned in the text, but that implieth other things. Briefly this
confession is made either in word or deed.
[1.] Verbal and in word, by a constant owning of Christ, and our
hopes by him, both publicly and upon all occasions by private con
ference, or taking all meet opportunities to discover ourselves that we
are Christians. So the apostle saith of Timothy, 1 Tim. viii. 12, ' Lay
hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed
a good profession before many witnesses.' He had openly confessed the
name of Christ. And the apostle telleth us, 1 John iv. 15, ' Whoso
ever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him
and he in God.' He meaneth it of times wherein this primitive and
fundamental truth was mainly contradicted and opposed in the world.
Then for a man to declare himself a Christian was hazardous, and
argued a great degree of self-denial ; and especially it is spoken in
opposition to the Gnostics and Nicolaitans, who accounted it sufficient
to believe with the heart, taking a liberty to confess what they listed.
See how they are taxed : John xii. 42, 43, ' Nevertheless among the
chief rulers also many believed on him, but because of the pharisees
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue ;
for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.'
[2.1 Eeal or indeed ; and that was either by action or passion.
(1.) By action, and that is twofold — either more public or private.
(1st.) More public, by submission to God's appointed ordinances, as
hearing of the word, baptism, and the Lord's supper. Christ instituted
these visible duties to make the profession of his name public and
open : Mark xvi. 16, 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.'
In the Lord's supper we commemorate his death : 1 Cor. xi. 26,
'As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show
forth the Lord's death till he come ; ' that is, we publicly com
memorate it, and show it forth as the ground of our hopes. So in
all the other duties which we observe in the assemblies of the faith
ful, they are a keeping up of our confession, or a testimony that
we are not ashamed of Christ. As Heb. x. 23, 'Let us hold fast
the profession of our faith without wavering ; for he is faithful that
hath promised.' Now this profession is solemnly made by our com
munion with God's people in their public assemblies ; as it followeth,
ver. 25, 'Not forsaking the assembling ourselves together, as the
manner of some is.' The assembling ourselves, that is, with the
Christians and their assemblies, wherein they did meet together to
serve and worship God, and mutually to promote their own salvation.
Now it is not enough to have our private devotions in our families
and closets, but we must entertain public converse with God, to
testify our union and agreement with the people of God in the same
254 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10.
faith and worship. Now, it was the manner of some to forsake these
conventions and meetings, which was a grievous sin, and of very ill
consequence ; not only as they deprived themselves of the benefit of
these societies, but as they seemed to love their life, goods, or quiet
and peace, and reputation, and liberty more than Christ ; and though
they were convinced of the truth of Christianity, yet could not be noted
as open professors of it.
(2d) More private and personal, by holy conversation and godliness ;
for we are to confess and glorify Christ both in word and deed. Con
fession indeed is a life of love and praise, in perpetual acknowledg
ment of this incomparable benefit which we have by Christ. This
confession is always necessary to true Christians, that their works be
holy and agreeable to their faith ; for thereby they signify that they
do believe in Christ, and expect eternal glory by him ; that he that is
raised up by God from the dead at length will come again to bring us to
himself. As without faith there is no righteousness, so without this
confession there is no salvation ; for this distinguisheth the Christian
from the hypocrite : Titus i. 16, ' They profess to know God, but in
their works they deny him.' They confess fair, but their lives show
they believe nothing. The very devils confessed Christ to be the Son
of the most high God, Mark iv. 7 ; but it profited them nothing,
because it was a confession extorted, and they were creatures in
rebellion against God. Therefore holiness of life is one means of our
confession ; otherwise we deny the Lord that bought us : Mat. v. 16,
' Let your light so shine before men, that others, seeing your good
works, may glorify your Father which is in heaven ; ' and 1 Peter ii. 9,
' That you may show forth the praises of him who hath called you out
of darkness into his marvellous light.' Works are a sign as well as
words ; the surer sign of the two, of the faith which is in our hearts.
For it is a sign that faith prevaileth in us when we do things consen
taneous, and agreeable tq' ;our faith. Our profession in words may be
contradicted by our works, and that is interpretatively a denial of the
faith : 1 Tim. v. 8, ' If any provide not for his own, he hath denied
the faith/ It is an act of uncharitableness or dishonesty. What !
profess Christ to be our Lord, and live in such rebellion and disobedience
to him ? It is as if you should assure a prince of your loyalty, and yet
actually be in arms against him. This confession is never out of
season, and is our surest evidence.
(2.) By passion or suffering, enduring the hardest things that can
befall you in the world for his sake. Of this our Lord speaketh:
Mat. x. 31, 32, ' Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I
confess before my Father in heaven ; but whosoever will deny me, him.
will I deny before my Father in heaven.' His name, his truth, his
ways must be avowed before all the world, whatever it cost us. We
cannot honour Christ so much as he will honour us, and therefore we
must contemn the hatred of the world, and all the pleasures and profits
of this life, that we may be faithful to him. Confession is a harder
matter than usually we take it to be, and requireth good preparation :
1 Peter iii. 15, 'Be ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you,' &c. Not ready in
point of knowledge only, to argue for the faith, but ready as to courage,
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10. 255
fortitude, and resolution of mind. ^0701; is not an account of the
reasons, but of the nature and tenor of our Christian faith. "ETOI/AOI,
be ready, is the same with erot/xeo? e^&>, as St Paul saith, Acts xxi. 13,
' I am ready not to be bound only, but to die also at Jerusalem,' &c.
And 6Toi/j,aaia, Eph. vi. 15, ' Shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace.'
II. The respect that is between these two, faith and profession.
There is a double respect, such as between —
1. The cause and effect. First, We believe and then confess. Our
faith is the cause of our confession : 2 Cor iv. 13, ' We having the
same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore
have I spoken ; we also believe, and therefore speak.' David was sore
afflicted, and yet professed his faith in God ; he could not suppress his
boasting of the promises in his greatest distresses; so we believe in
Christ, and therefore cannot but in word and deed express our confi
dence in him. When such a spirit of faith cometh upon us, there will
not need many enforcements or excitements publicly to own Christ ;
for this spirit of faith cannot be shut up in the heart, but will break
out into confession. There cannot be a true and lively faith without
confession, nor a true confession without faith ; for the effect cannot be
without the cause, nor such a powerful cause without the effect.
2. Such as there is between the sign and the thing signified. Faith
hath always confession and obedience joined with it, as its proper sign.
As flame or smoke is of fire, or breathing of life, so is confession with
the mouth, or an holy life, an individual1 companion and note of true
faith, by which it is demonstrated to be sincere and real : ' Show me
thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by rny
works,' James ii. 18. Men know not our hearts, whether we believe
in God, yea or no, or what we believe of him, till they hear and see it
in our profession and actions ; here is the sign, the proof of it. Look,
as an evil principle bewrayeth itself by its proper signs ; as atheism
by men's ungodly and unholy lives — (Ps. xxxvi. 1, ' The transgression
of the wicked saith within my heart, There is no fear of God before
his eyes.' What could they do more in a way of sin or less in a way
of duty if there were no God ? The current of a man's life and actions
doth best expound and interpret his heart ; any considerate man may
conclude from their manner of living that they have no sense of the
being of God, nor ever expect to be accountable to him) — so for the
belief of Christianity ; it is discovered by owning Christ in the greatest
dangers, by a ready obedience to his precepts, that seem to be most
cross to the inclination and interest of the flesh ; or by an holy and
heavenly life. It is a sign we believe those blessed, sublime, and
weighty truths which are contained in the gospel. In short, we judge
others by external works alone, for the tree is known by its fruits, Mat.
vii. 16. We judge of ourselves by external and internal together ;
both by the belief of the heart and the confession of the mouth also.
III. The order God hath established ; appointing faith as a means
to be justified, and confession as a means to be saved.
1. Let us speak of what is requisite to righteousness ; so faith is
the means whereby this righteousness is applied, received, and freely
given us.
1 Tha*, is, indivisible or inseparable. — ED.
256 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10.
To explain this I shall inquire — (1.) What is righteousness; (2.)
Show you that this righteousness is applied by faith ; (3.) That the
cordial and heart believer is the penitent, working believer.
[1.] What is righteousness ? It is here taken in a legal and judicial
sense, not for a disposition of mind and heart to please God, but for
the ground of a plea before the tribunal of God, that we may be
exempted from the punishments threatened, and obtain the grace
offered, or a right to the reward promised : Rom. v. 18, ' As by the
offence of one judgment came upon all to condemnation, even so by
the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justifica
tion of life.'
[2.] That we are qualified for this righteousness by faith. So it is
said, Eom. iii. 24, 25, ' Being justified freely by his grace, through the
redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation throughfaith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins.' We get absolution from sin by free pardon, through
the merit of Christ, and are accepted as righteous before God, when
we enter into the new covenant, taking God for our Lord and happiness,
Christ for our redeemer and saviour, the Holy Ghost for our sanctifier
and comforter. More especially with respect to Christ, when we
subject ourselves to him as our Lord, and depend upon the merit of
his death and intercession for our acceptance with God. Now that
this believing with the heart is required in order to righteousness is
everywhere manifested in the scriptures. Therefore the new covenant
righteousness is called ' the righteousness of faith,' Bom. ix. 30, ' The
gentiles have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which
is of faith.' So Gal. v. 5, ' We through the Spirit wait for the hope
of righteousness by faith ;' because faith qualifieth us for it. A right
eousness we must have, that we may be exempted from wrath, which
sin hath made our due, and that we may be accepted with God unto
eternal life, which they that are destitute of all righteousness can never
attain unto. A righteousness of our own according to the law of
works we are far from. The legal way, therefore, can never stead us.
We must only run for refuge to the evangelical course or way set down
in the gospel ; namely, that upon the account of the merit and
obedience of Christ God will pardon the sins of all penitent believers,
and accept them to grace and favour. Well, then, it is by faith that
Christ's death and obedience are applied and made beneficial to us :
Bom. iii. 22, ' The righteousness of God is by the faith of Jesus Christ,
unto all and upon all that believe, and there is no difference.' Well,
then, every believer is qualified. If you ask me therefore —
[3.] What kind of believer is qualified and accepted as righteous, I
answer — (1.) The penitent believer ; (2.) The working believer.
(1.) The penitent believer ; for faith and repentance are inseparable
companions, and always go together in our first introduction or
entrance into the new covenant : Mark i. 15, ' Bepent and believe the
gospel ; ' and Acts ii. 38, ' Bepent and be baptized, for the remission of
sins.' When we depend upon Christ for pardon, we are willing to
return to God and live in his obedience, hating and detesting our
former ways wherein we wandered from him. Well, then, though
the righteousness be only the righteousness of faith, and the believer
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10. 257
be only accepted as righteous, yet it is the penitent believer whose
heart and life is changed, and who is willing by Christ to come to
God.
(2.) It is the working believer ; so it is explained. What is in Gal.
v. 5, called 'The righteousness of faith/ is, ver. 6, called 'Faith
working by love.' Not all that is called by that name, but the work
ing faith. And so it is expressed elsewhere: Heb. xi. 7, 'By faith
Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he became
an heir of the righteousness which is by faith.' The saving of Noah
from the flood is a type and shadow of salvation by Christ. The flood
drowned and destroyed the impenitent world, but Noah and his family
were saved in the ark. We are warned of the eternal penalties
threatened by God. If we do not repent and believe, we shall not be
saved from wrath ; but if we believe and prepare an ark, that is,
diligently use the means appointed for our safety, then we become
heirs of the righteousness which is by faith. Noah showed himself a
believer indeed, to prepare an ark with such vast charge in the face of
the scorning world, which was an eminent piece of self-denial and
obedience ; but such will the true faith put us upon. Look, as to be
justified by the law, or works required by the law, is all one, so to be
justified by faith or the new covenant is all one also. Whatever there
fore the new covenant requireth as our duty that we may be capable of
the privileges thereof, that must be done by the sincere believer. It
is not the idle, but the working faith.
2. That confession with the mouth is required unto salvation, for
God is not glorified, nor others edified, nor ourselves comforted, but
by such a believing with the heart as hath confession going along
with it.
[1.] God is most glorified when faith breaketh out into confession
either in word or deed, suffering or obedience: 2 Thes. i. 11, 12,
* Wherefore we pray always that God would count you worthy of his
calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of
faith with power ; that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glori
fied in you.' By the work of faith there, is not meant, the internal, elicit
or heart acts, such as assent, consent, and affiance; thus we may honour
God in ourselves, but not before others ; but the external act of con
fession, which is made either by patient sufferings or holiness of life ;
so we honour God before others. Our deeds must answer our faith ;
for the truest confession is made by deeds rather than words, for words
are cheaper than deeds. The world therefore believe th deeds more.
In short, a Christian that desireth. to magnify Christ in his soul,
desireth also to magnify him in his body : Phil. i. 20, ' So Christ be
magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death ; ' so 1 Cor. vi. 20,
' Glorify God in your bodies and souls, which are God's/
[2.] Others are edified; for that which is secret is no means to
profit them : they cannot see our faith ; but they may see our good
works : Mat. v. 16, 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ; '
and 1 Peter ii. 12, ' That they may by your good works, which they
shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation ; ' and a holy life is
VOL. XVIII. E
258 SERMON UPON KOMANS X. 10.
required for their sates, that we may be a means to bring them home
to God.
[3.] We are most comforted ; for it is the practical, operative faith
which giveth a right to salvation, and breedeth assurance of it in our
souls. That is but the image and shadow of grace that lurketh and
lieth hid and idle in the soul : James ii. 14, ' What doth it profit, my
brethren, if a man say he hath faith, and hath not works ? Can faith
save him ? ' You do not look for salvation by Christ if you do not take
the way that leadeth to it ; but a fruitful faith evidenceth itself, and
confirmeth our interest and increaseth our joy.
Use. To press you —
1. To mark the order of the benefits — first righteousness, then
salvation.
[1.] We can never have found peace ; there is no appearing before
God without some righteousness, of one sort or other. God is holy
and just, therefore somewhat we must have to stand before this holy
God.
[2.] No other righteousness will serve the turn but the righteousness
of faith. We are in a wof ul case till we get an interest in the right
eousness of Christ : Job xxxiii. 24, ' Then he is gracious to him, and
saith, Deliver him from going down into the pit, for I have found a
ransom.'
[3.] Till we heartily and sincerely believe or enter into this cove
nant, we have not this interest : Phil. iii. 9, ' And be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
faith.' Then for salvation, is this all your hope and desire, that your
soul may be saved in the day of the Lord ? Then let not lesser pur
suits divert you : Acts xvi. 30, ' The jailer said to Paul and Silas, Sirs,
what must I do to be saved ? ' It . doth not touch us so near, how we
shall live in this world, as how to live in the other.
2. Mark the order of duties — first faith, then confession. Hear, and
your souls shall live. First hear, then live. There must be a believ
ing with the heart, and a confession with the mouth ; both go together :
' For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation.'
SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6.
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things,
and we in him; and one Jesus Christ, by ivhom are all things,
and we by him. — 1 COB. viii. 6.
IN the text, there is a perfect antithesis or opposition to the fabulous
devices of the pagan religion. Among the pagans there were 6eou
TToXXol, ' many gods,' and /cvpiot -jroXKol, ' many lords/ ver. 5. By
gods, meaning the supreme deities ; by lords, middle powers, or
gods of an inferior order, supposed to be mediators and agents between
the supreme gods and mortal men ; called by the orientals Baalim,
lords, as gods here by the apostles. By the Greeks Sai/zoi/e?. So
Plato in his Sympos. : Bta SaifAovlcov iraad eariv f] 6/uXia Kal -fj
StaXe/cT09 Oeols Trpos avOpayirovs — All the commerce and intercourse
between gods and men is performed by demons. Now the Christian
religion doth herein agree with the pagan, that there is a supreme God
and a mediator ; but it differeth in that they had a plurality in both
sorts of their gods, we but one in each ; and so the Christian religion
is distinguished from all others by one God and one Lord. 'To
us,' that is, to us Christians, 'there is but et9 @eo?, one sovereign
God,' from whom, as supreme, we derive all our graces, and to whom,
as supreme, we direct all our services. * And one Lord,' that is, one
mediator, by whom, as through a golden pipe, all mercies are conveyed
to us, and by whom also we have access to God : ' But to us there is
but one God,' &c.
In the words observe —
1. What is said of the supreme and most high God.
[1.] The unity of his essence, that though he be distinguished into
three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, yet there is but one, the
only and true God.
[2.] He is represented by his relation to the creatures, ' the Father/
It is not taken vTroaraTiKco^, personally, but oucrtwSw?, essentially,
as often in scripture ; as Isa. Ixiii. 16, 'Doubtless thou art our
Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us ; ' meaning not only the
first person, but all the rest; and Mat. v. 16, 'Glorify your Father
which is in heaven;' and Mat. vi. 9, ' Our Father which art in heaven;'
James iii. 9, * Therefore we bless God, even the Father.' In all these
and many other places, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is the only true
God, and called Father.
[3.] He is set forth by his dignity and pre-eminence, as the first
260 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 6.
cause and last end : ' For from him are all things, and we in him,' etV,
dvTov, i.e., to him and for him. I take the marginal reading. So Rom.
xi. 36, ' For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.'
2. What is said of the mediator. He is described —
[1.] By his person or name, signifying his person, ' Jesus Christ : '
' There is no other name given under heaven,' Acts iv. 12, &c.
[2.] By his dignity, ' Lord,' that is, mediator. Christ is often set
forth by this term or title : Acts ii. 36, ' God has made that same Jesus
whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ.' He is Lord over all
creatures, and over the house of God : Phil. ii. 11, ' And that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father/ He died for that end and purpose : Kom. xiv. 9, ' To
this end Christ both died, and rose again, and revived, that he might
be Lord both of dead and living.' Therefore we should own him as
such : John xx. 28, ' My Lord and my God ; ' both in word and deed.
In word: Phil. ii. 11, 'That every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord.' In deed, in worship : Ps. xlv. 11, ' He is thy Lord ; wor
ship thou him/ In ordinary practice and conversation, loving, serving,
studying to please him in all things : Luke vi. 46, ' Why call you me
Lord, and do not the things which I say ? ' Col. i. 10, ' Walk worthy
of the Lord in all pleasing/ It is our comfort that he is head over all
things, Eph. i. 22. So he is able to subject the church to, himself by
his Spirit, to vanquish its enemies, and defend us by his power. And
it is both our comfort and duty that he is our Lord : ' He purchased
us by his blood/ Acts xx. 28, and Eph. i. 14. Therefore the church
is given him as an inheritance, Ps. ii. 8. We are married to him in
the covenant of grace. Therefore he appeaseth the wrath of God by
his passion and intercession. He cherisheth and takes care of us.
[3.] The appropriation of this office and dignity to him alone : ' One
Lord, Jesus Christ/ To set up other lords of our faith, or other
mediators between God and us, is a wrong to Christ. There is but one
Mediator, either of redemption or intercession, and no saints or angels
share in this honour : 1 Tim. ii. 5, ' For there is one God, and one
Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus ; ' Eph. iv. 5,
' One Lord ; ' without partner or substitute. He will communicate
this glory and dominion over his church to no other, in whole or in
part.
[4.] The distinctness of his operation as mediator, from what was
said concerning the Father. It is said of the Father, ' Of whom, and
for whom, are all things ; ' but of the Mediator it is said, ' By whom
are all things, and we by him/ God is the fountain of all heavenly
gifts, James i. 17 ; and Christ is the pipe and conveyance. God is
the ultimate object of our worship, and by the Mediator do we make
our addresses and applications to him : Eph. ii. 18, 'For through him
we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father/ From God all
things have their being, as from their spring and cause, both in a way
of nature and grace ; so all things by the Mediator.
Doct. That the owning and worshipping God by the Mediator,
Jesus Christ, is the sum of the Christian religion.
Natural religion owneth a God, but the Christian religion owneth a
Mediator ; and Father, Son, and Holy Ghost for that only true God,
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 6. 261
and Jesus Christ for that Mediator. See other scriptures : John xvii.
3, i And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent/ There is the sum of what
is necessary to life eternal, that God is to be known, loved, obeyed,
worshipped, and enjoyed, and the Lord Jesus as our Kedeemer and
Saviour, to bring us home to God, and to procure for us the gifts of
pardon and life, and this life to be begun here and perfected in heaven.
So 1 Tim. ii. 5, ' For there is but one God, and one Mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus.' Here are the two great points
of the Christian religion — one God, in whom is all our trust and con
fidence ; and one Lord Jesus, the only Mediator for the restoration and
reconciliation of man with God.
Here I shall show you — (1.) The necessity of a mediator ; (2.)
The fitness of Christ for this office ; (3.) The benefit and fruit of it ;
(4.) Who are the parties interested in these comforts, and most con
cerned in these duties.
I. The necessity of a mediator in this lapsed and fallen estate of
mankind. Two things infer and enforce this necessity — distance and
difference. Distance by reason of impurity, and difference by reason
of enmity ; both these occur in the case between God and men. God
is a God of glorious majesty, and we are poor creatures. God is an
holy God, a God of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and we are
sinful creatures. As creatures, we are unworthy of immediate access
to God ; as lapsed, and under the guilt of sin and desert of punishment,
and unable to deliver ourselves, we cannot draw nigh to him with any
comfort.
1. Our distance, which is so great that it is a condescension for God
to take notice that there are such creatures in the world : Ps. cxiii. 6,
'Who humbleth himself to behold the things which are in heaven and
earth.' The excellency and majesty of God is so great that either
angels or men are unworthy to approach his presence. Now, as
inferior and mean people dare not approach the presence of a great
prince but by some powerful friend and intercessor at court, so our
distance produceth our fears and estrangedness, and backwardness to
draw nigh unto God, and so hindereth our love and confidence in him.
Well, then, to depend upon one so far above us, that he will take
notice of us, take care of us, relieving us in our necessities and straits,
and help us out of all our miseries, and finally save us, requireth a
mediator ; one that is more near and dear to God than we are, which
can be no other than Jesus Christ, as I shall show by-and-by. When
a sinner looketh only at God as in himself, he is confounded and
amazed, as quite out of the reach of his commerce.
2. Difference. A mediator is chiefly one used between disagreeing
parties : Gal. iii. 20, ' Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but
God is one.' There must be two parties, and usually two differing
parties. There is God angry, and man guilty. Conscience of guilt
presents God terrible, and taketh away all confidence from the guilty
sinner, so that of ourselves we cannot approach in a friendly manner
to an offended and provoked God : Heb. xii. 29, ' For our God is a
consuming fire ; ' and ' Who can dwell with devouring burnings ? '
Isa. xxxiii. 14. Who shall interpose and stand between God and us,
262 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 6.
the power of his wrath, and our weakness and obnoxiousness to his
righteous vengeance.
II. That none but Christ is fit for this high office, that, though God
be high, and just, and holy, yet poor creatures and sinners may have
access to him. A mediator must be one that can take off the distance,
and compromise the difference between us and God : ' 0 that there
were,' saith Job, ' a day's-man between us, that might lay his hands
upon both ! 'Job ix. 33. Now, considering this, Jesus Christ is the
only fit interposing party ; therefore he is called ' the Mediator of the
new covenant,' Heb. xii. 24, ' And to Jesus, the Mediator of the new
covenant,' and ' The Mediator of a better covenant,' Heb. viii. 6.
1. As to the distance; so in his person he is God-man. Our media
tor must be one in whom God doth condescend to man, and by whom,
man may be encouraged to ascend to God. Now in Christ God is
nearer to man than he was before, and so we may have more familiar
thoughts of God. The pure deity is at so vast a distance from us
'while we are in the flesh, that we are amazed and confounded, cannot
imagine that he should look after us, concern himself in us and our
affairs, love us, show us his free grace and favour. Now it is a
mighty help to think of God manifested in our flesh, 1 Tim. iii. 16 ;
' The Word made flesh/ John i. 14. So that while we are here in the
flesh, yet we may have commerce with God. It is a mighty en
couragement to consider how near God is come to us in Christ, and
how he hath taken the human nature into his own person ; for surely
he will not hide himself from his own flesh, Isa. Iviii. 7. He came
down into our flesh that he might be man, and familiar with man.
This wonderfully reconcileth the heart of man to God, and maketh
the thoughts of him comfortable and acceptable to us, so that we may
encourage ourselves in free access to God.
2. As the person of the Kedeemer, so his work ; which is to take
away the difference and quarrel between us and God. To understand
this, observe, that the mediation between the two differing parties
must be carried on so that God, who is the supreme and offended
party, may be satisfied. Now God stood upon these terms that the
honour of his governing justice should be secured : Kom. iii. 25,
* Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins.' And
that the repentance and reformation of sinful man should be carried
on : Acts v. 31, ' Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a
prince and saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of
sins.' These must be done, otherwise man must lie under his eternal
displeasure. If the one be done and not the other done, no recon
ciliation can ensue. Therefore we must not look to Christ's mediation
with God so as to overlook his work with man, nor so look to his
work with man as to overlook his mediation with God : Heb. iii. 1,
' Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Jesus Christ.'
We have both here. The work of an apostle lieth with men; the
work of an high priest with God. He hath an office with God and
man, and both are necessary to bring about our salvation. And
Christ cannot be a complete Saviour without doing both. To be
barely a prophet would not serve the turn, but he must be a priest to
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 6. 263
gatisfy God's justice also by the merit of his sacrifice. In short, his
work with God is that of a priest; his work with man is that of a
prophet and king.
[1.] His work as a priest is to pacify God's wrath, procure his
grace, love, and favour for us ; and this he doth under two relations —
as a sponsor and intercessor.
(1.) As a sponsor and surety. He was the surety of a better testa
ment : Heb. vii. 22, ' By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better
testament/ So —
(1st.) By way of satisfaction, he undertook something to be paid
and performed for us. He undertaketh to satisfy God's justice by
the sacrifice of himself, and so make way for his mercy on easy terms.
The pacifying of God's justice was a great part of his mediation :
Heb. ix. 15, ' For this cause he is the Mediator of the new testament,
that, by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that
were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the
promise of eternal inheritance ; ' that is, that penitent and believing
sinners might be acquitted from the curse due to them by the first
covenant, and so made capable of eternal life. What they owe he hath
paid.
(2d.) By way of caution, undertaking for those whom he reconciled
to God that they shall perform what God requireth of them in the
new covenant. Having purchased the Spirit, he hath enabled them
to repent, and believe, and mortify and crucify the flesh, and obey the
gospel: Horn. vi. 6, 'Knowing that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin.'
(2.) As an intercessor. He is in heaven dealing with God in our
behalf. He hath not cast oft' his relation or affection to his people
upon his advancement: Heb. viii. 2, 'A minister of the sanctuary,
and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.' In
all his glory he is the church's agent, appearing for us as our attorney
in court, Heb. ix. 24 ; pleading for us, and answering all accusations
as our advocate : 1 John ii. 1, ' And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' And main
taining a correspondency between us and God, as an ambassador
between two states, promoting our desires and prayers : Kev. viii. 3,
' And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden
censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should
offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was
before the throne.' And obtaining all necessary graces for us.
[2.] His work with men, as a prophet and king.
(1.)
As a prophet, and so as a messenger of the covenant, Mai.
iii. 11. He showeth us the way how we may be reconciled with God,
persuading us also to be so reconciled to God. For we are ignorant
and obstinate, loath to part with sin and submit to God's terms ;
therefore he revealeth, and persuadeth us to accept, the conditions of
the new covenant, and to cast away all our rebellion against God, and
enter into his peace : 2 Cor. v. 20, ' Now then we are ambassadors for
Christ ; as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God.' They plead in his name, and by
virtue of his power.
264 SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6.
(2.) As a king and lord ; so lie maketh these terms part of the
new law for the remedying of lapsed mankind : Heb. v. 8, ' Though
he were a son, yet he learned obedience by the things he suffered.'
And not only so, but he subdueth us to himself,' Luke xi. 21 ; by
strong hand rescueth us out of the power of the devil, and giveth us
grace to serve him acceptably, Heb. xii. 28 ; and taketh us into his
care, and ruleth us and protecteth us, till we enter into everlasting
life. His lordship is a great part of his mediation.
III. The comforts and duties thence resulting, namely, from
Christ's being constituted as mediator, as they are laid forth in the
text.
1. I observe, that the Father's honour and glory is still secured,
and preserved safe and entire, notwithstanding the giving the glory
to Christ as the Lord of the new creation. The glory of the Mediator
doth no way impair and infringe the Father's glory. That is apparent,
partly because all the good we have is from the Father, but only by
Christ ; for when the Father is spoken of, it is said, ' From him are all
things ; ' but when the Mediator, then it is said, ' By him ; ' which
notes a subordinate operation or administration, as lord- deputy under
the Father ; and therefore, in the subjection of the creature unto
Christ, the glory of the Father is expressly reserved : Phil. ii. 11,
' That every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of
the Father.' Again, it is apparent, because it is said, ' We are to
him,' or ' for him.' The Mediator does not lead us off from God, but
to him. Therefore both our love to God and subjection to him must
still be preserved.
[1.] Our love. You must not think of the Father that he is all
wrath, severe and inexorable, and his favour not to be gained but
upon hard terms. No ; if he himself had not loved us, we could never
have had Christ for our Kedeemer. All things are of him, not only
in a way of creation, but redemption ; and one great end of sending
Christ was to show the amiableness of the divine nature. Christ
himself was sent by the Father : John iii. 16, ' God so loved the
world, that he sent his only-begotten Son ; ' 2 Cor. v. 19, ' God was
in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their
trespasses to them ; ' Rom. viii. 32, ' God spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all.'
(2.) Our subjection and obedience : Rev. v. 9, ' Thou hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood.' His ancient right in us is not disannulled,
but promoted. We are redeemed to his service and obedience. See
1 Cor. vi. 19, 20, ' Which are God's,' viz., by a right beneficial, as a
further obligation. God is the efficient and final cause of all things ;
therefore, still our subjection to God and love to God must be pre
served.
2. I observe, that the expressions here used imply returns as well
as receipts. Look to the expressions in both clauses, either concerning
the one God or the one Mediator. The one God : ' From him are all
things, and we by him,' or ' for him.' As from his bounty and good
ness, so for his honour and service : Prov. xvi. 4, ' God hath made all
things for himself ; ' 1 Cor. x. 31, ' Whether ye eat or drink, or what
soever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Whether it be in a way of
SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6. 265
nature or grace, all things come of God. These words do especially
concern Christians. All matters of grace come from the Father to us
for "his glory ; all things that belong to the new creation, as appeareth
by the last clause ; we by him, et? dvrbv, or for him. See Eph. i. 12,
' That we should be to the praise of his glory.' So for what is said of
the Mediator ; and ' one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things ; '
that is, which we receive from God ; and ' we by him ; ' that is, all
the services which we return to God again. Not only blessings come
from the Father to us, but we also must return duty and service to
God by the same Mediator. Receipts come from God by Christ, and
returns go back by Chris* to God. Which is to be noted by them
who are all for receipts, but think not of returns ; and also by them
who own God in their mercies, but make returns in their own name.
No ; all that duty which we perform to God is by the Mediator. All
Christianity is a coming to God by Christ, Heb. vii. 25. If we believe
in God, it is by him : 1 Peter i. 2, ' By whom we believe in God.' I£
we love God, it is in Christ. If we pray to God, it is in and through
him : Eph. ii. 18, ' For through him we both have an access by one
Spirit unto the Father.' If we praise God, it is in and by Christ :
Phil. i. 11, 'Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are
by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.' Otherwise our
duties are not acceptable and pleasing to him.
3. I observe, that in the receipts we expect from God there is great
encouragement to expect them ; for God is represented as a fountain of
grace, as a father, as a God and father, that acts by a mediator, whose
merit is expressed as large as the Father's power.
[1.] As a fountain of grace. He is the supreme cause of all things,
from whom all creatures have their life and being ; a fountain ever-
flowing, and overflowing. What can we ask of him which he is not
able to do ? Ps. Ivii. 2, ' I will cry unto God most high, unto God that
performeth all things for me/ If it be pardon of sin or the gift of the-
Spirit, if subduing enemies or everlasting salvation, he is able to give
it you. If it be strength against temptations, or grace to serve him
acceptably, you come to a God from whom are all things. When a man
seriously worshippeth God, he turneth his back upon all other things,
and turneth his face to God as the supreme lord and fountain of all happi
ness. You may with confidence present your petitions to him that can
perform all things.
[2.] -You come to God as a father. If you take it personally, it is
comfortable to come to him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Eph.
iii. 14 ; or essentially, as a father of the whole family of the faithful,
He loveth us dearly. We have the supreme God for our father, and
shall not we trust in him ? 2 Cor. vi. 18, ' And I will be a Father unto
you, and you shall be my sons and daughters.' Who would distrust a
father, and an omnipotent father ? When we remember not only his
sufficiency, but his love to us and our interest in him, we make our
addresses to him with confidence. Who may be confident if not the
children of such a father ?
[3.] This fatherly goodness and all-sufficiency is engaged for our
relief by the Mediator. As all things are from the Father, so all things
are by him ; that is, purchased and bought by his merit. The extent
266 SERMON UFON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6.
and virtue of his merit is expressed as largely as the Father's power.
If we believe in God as an all-sufncient fountain of grace, we believe in
Christ as an all-sufficient mediator : John xiv. 1, ' Let not your hearts
be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also in me ; ' 1 John ii. 23,
' He that acknowledged the Son hath the Father also/ Besides this,
Hhe veil of Christ's flesh doth break the beams of his terror to those that
'behold his excellencies and rejoice in them. By that we are encouraged
to come to God for the Mediator's blessing, which is the pardon of our
•sins : Mat. i. 21 , ' He shall save his people from their sins ; ' and Acts
iii. 26, ' God hath sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of
you from your sins.' One great petition which we have to put up to
•God is for the pardon of sin. This is a principal suit, which sinful
man hath daily to present to God. Now, when we are sensible of sin,
how comfortable is it to come to God in the name of this Lord and
Mediator, who came on purpose to take away sin, and hath satisfied
"God's justice, and merited God's favour and mercy for us, and liveth in
heaven to plead the merit of his sacrifice ?
[4.] As we are encouraged greatly to expect the graces and favours
needful, so we are as deeply engaged to the returns of love, service, and
obedience ; and that not only as obliged in point of gratitude, but as
inclined, suited, and fitted; for as we are for God, so we are by him.
I say, we are obliged in gratitude for the many blessings which are pro-
•cured and conveyed to us by the Mediator. If we have all things from
God, and all things by him, and we Christians, more than ordinary
creatures, surely we should in a singular manner fulfil his will and seek
his glory : 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, ' For the love of Christ constraineth us ;
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and
that he died for all, that they that live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.' And
'not only are we obliged, but enabled and inclined. We ' for him ; '
there is our duty in the first clause ; we ' by him,' there is our help :
Eph. ii. 10, ' We are his workmanship in Christ Jesus, created unto
food works.' Not only 'by him/ so as to perform it acceptably, but
y him so as to perform it cheerfully and with all readiness of mind.
It relateth to our assistance as well as our acceptance. There is the
Spirit to help our infirmities, which is shed on us abundantly, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, Titus iii. 6. So we are ' by him/ that is,
are fitted for the service of God, and put into a capacity to please
him.
IV. Who are the parties interested in these comforts, and most con
cerned in these duties.
The apostle saith here, ' To us there is but one, God and one Lord;'
meaning to us Christians; all those that own God, and worship God by
the Mediator : Heb. vii. 25, ' Wherefore he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him/ Who are they ? Some
will not come to God ; others, not by him. They, and they only, are
the persons that enjoy the benefit of this mediation, who come to God
by him ; and that two ways —
1. They come to God by him who take upon them the profession of
being his servants, and obedient subjects in Christ. The bare profes
sion bringeth us somewhat nearer to God. Thus the people of Israel
SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. & 267
are said to be a people nigh unto God, Ps. cxlviii. 14. They were a
step nearer to God than the Gentiles. So the profession of Christianity
bringeth us near unto God : ' Who were sometime afar off, but now
are made near by the blood of Christ/ Eph. ii. 13. Before they were
afar off from God, from his church, his covenant, and communion with
him in his ordinances. Surely it is some advantage to come so near to
God by Christ as to have union and communion with the visible church
of Christ. They a*e in that society and community of men who are
under God's special care and government above the rest of the world,
and where they enjoy the means of salvation, and such ordinarily by
which God useth to convey his choicest blessings. These have a bene
fit above those who are wholly without the church, as having an offer
of the gospel-benefits, though not a right to them. They are nearer
at hand, and in grace's way, and may sooner understand that Christ is
a means chosen and used by God to bring home sinners to himself ;
and by the Christian doctrine current amongst them, which they know
and profess to believe, have a dogmatical faith, at least, that God is the
supreme fountain of all happiness, and Christ the only way to him ;
and have the common, conditional, pardoning covenant sounding in
their ears continually, wherein God offereth to be a God and Father
to them in Christ, and telleth them what he will be and do, to and
for all those that do come in and submit to this covenant.
2. Those come to God by him who really enter into the evangelic
estate, and are converted by an unfeigned ' repentance towards God, and
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,' Acts xx. 21. Kepentance respects
God as our supreme Lord -and chief happiness, and faith our Lord
Jesus Christ as the only one Mediator. When you turn from sin, self,
and Satan unto God, then you come to him ; for certainly the farther
we depart from sin, the nearer we come to God. Now this coming is
by Christ. The sinner that is turned from the creature to God, and
from sin to holiness, is also turned from self to Christ, who is the only
means of our recovery, by his merit and efficacy reconciling us to God,
and changing our hearts : by the one restoring us to his favour, by the
other to his image. Therefore a turning ourselves from our sins, with
a resolution to forsake them, without a reflection upon Christ, is but a
natural religion, not evangelical. The evangelical religion is a coming
to God by Christ, or, as it is described by the apostle, Heb. x. 22, * A
drawing nigh with a true heart, and in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed
•with pure water.' Those that are justified by the merit and sanctified
by the Spirit of Christ, and fully resolving entirely and unfeignedly upon
the duties of the gospel, depending upon the promises thereof, these
indeed have one God for their Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ for
their Redeemer and Saviour. Till a man be renewed and reconciled,
sanctified and pardoned, he is unfit for God, and incapable of salvation,
or any present communion with God. What can we expect from him,
and how insufficient are we for either of these two works, to renew our
souls and reconcile them to God ? What can we do to satisfy justice,
or break the love of sin in our souls ? Therefore the Lord Jesus hath
undertaken the office of being the Redeemer and Saviour of the world,
by his sacrifice, merit, and intercession. We must be pardoned and
268 SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6.
accepted, and only by him must we come to God. If your repentance
towards God and your faith in him be sincere, you shall have all the
blessings of the new covenant. In short, obedience and the love of God
was the primitive holiness for which we were created, and from which
we fell. We, by repentance, are willing to return to this again, and
therefore depend upon a saviour and sanctifier, that we may be recon
ciled and renewed, and so are said, in this general sense, to come to God
by him.
Secondly, More particularly we are said to come to God by Christ
three ways —
1. In the exercise of our graces. I shall instance in the three
radical ones, which constitute the new creature — faith, hope, and love ^
for in the exercise of these communion with God doth consist.
[1.] Faith seeth God in Christ, as sitting upon a throne of grace,
ready to give out all manner of grace, and seasonable relief to penitent
believers in all their necessities and temptations and duties. Well, then,
boldly trust him and depend upon him. Thus we come to God by
Christ : 2 Cor. iii. 4, ' Such trust have we through Christ to God-ward ; '
1 Peter i. 21, ' By him we believe in God.' This is living by faith in
Christ, so often spoken of in scripture. When you make use of him
in all your wants, duties, and difficulties, expecting your Father's love
and blessing to come to you through him alone, and the Spirit that
must help you and assist you in all your infirmities and temptations,
as coming from the Father and the Son ; not only procured, but given
by him your head. In all your doubts, fears, and wants, you go to
him in the Spirit, and to the Father by him, and by him alone ; this is
living by Christ.
[2.] Love, which vents itself in a desire of full communion with
God and delights in him. Desire is a coming to God, or a following
hard after him ; delight is an adherence to him, as satisfied with so
much as we enjoy of him. Our enjoyments here are partial, and
therefore our delight is very imperfect ; but yet, such as it is, it begets
a study to please God and fear to offend him. Our Father is in heaven,
but on earth we have a glimpse of him, enough to make him amiable
to the soul : Ps. xvii. 15, ' As for me, I will behold thy face in right
eousness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.' Thus
we love him through Christ or in Christ ; for we study Christ to see
the goodness and amiableness and love of God in him : Eph. iii. 17-19,
' That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what
is the breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge ; that ye might be filled with all
the fulness of God/ A condemning God is not so loved as a gracious
and pardoning God. Surely we love him more as a father than as a
judge. And it is the Spirit of Christ which maketh us cry ' Abba,
Father ; ' not only thereby expressing our confidence and dependence,
but affection : Gal. iv. 6, ' Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth
the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.'
[3.] Hope. We come to God as we longingly expect the full fruition
of him. Love puts us upon seeking after God. But alas ! upon earth
we do but seek ; in heaven we expect to find. Hope causeth us to hold
SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6. 269
on, seeking till we find, and get nearer to him, and maketh us resolve
that it is better to be a seeker than a wanderer ; to wait till the delight
of love be perfect, than to turn the back upon God and his ways. We
cannot have Mount Zion in the wilderness. For the present, Christ
doth but guide us to the land of promise ; we have a refreshing by
the way, manna in the wilderness ; but not Canaan in the wilderness.
Earth at the best will not be heaven. Our perfect blessedness is when
God is all in all. For the present, as God is seen but as in a glass, so
he is proportionably enjoyed. The devil, the world, and the flesh, are
not perfectly overcome, and therefore we have but little of God. And
the ordinances cannot convey him all to us, while his interest is so
crowded up in our hearts, but we wait, and look, and long till we have
more. Our only coming now to him is by hope, and that partial enjoy
ment of his love which we attain unto makes us look for more. The
new nature inclineth us to hope ; for they that love God will desire to
be more like him, and to get more of him. And our experience quick-
eneth our hope, Kom. v. 4. But all is by Christ. The apostle saith,
' The Lord Jesus himself hath given us everlasting consolation, and
good hope through grace,' 2 Thes. ii. 16. As at first he inclined us
to set our hearts on another world, and lay up our hopes in heaven,
and to part with all things seen for that God and glory which we
never saw, which otherwise, by reason of unbelief and sensuality, we
should never have done ; so still he inclineth us to hope and wait in
the midst of difficulties and disappointments, and encourageth us by
his tenderness and constant pity: Jude 21, 'Keep yourselves in the
love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
everlasting life.'
2. This coming to God is by all divine ordinances or acts of worship.
The use of our liberty to approach to him in these duties is one special
•way of corning to him by Christ. To come to him in the word as our
teacher, in the Lord's Supper as the master of the feast, in prayer as our
king and almighty helper, is a very great privilege and comfort.
Certainly if at any time, then we come to God. We come to him in
worship ; for then we turn our backs upon all things else, that we may
present ourselves before his throne. But now thus we can only come
by Jesus Christ. t If we come to receive a blessing in the word, we
come to receive the fruits of his purchase : John xvii. 19, ' And for
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified through
the truth ; ' Eph. v 26, ' That he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word.' If we come to the Lord's Supper,
that duty was instituted for the remembrance of Christ, that his flesh
might be meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed. But especially in
invocation or solemn calling upon God in a way of prayer or praise,
into which all duties issue themselves.
[1.] In a way of prayer. The mediation of Christ doth especially
respect that duty, and you must put your suits into his hand if you
mean to speed : John xvi. 23, ' Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father
in my name, he will give it you.' There is no speaking to God or
hoping for anything from God but by Christ. Having such a mediator
to present our desires and requests, we may come boldly to him. The
Father is well pleased with these requests. We cannot have sufficient
sense enough of our unworthiness and his worth and merit.
270 SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6.
[2.] In a way of praise : Col. iii. 17, ' Whatsoever ye do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and
the Father by him/ All the success of our lawful undertakings or
expectations is to be ascribed to God through Christ. All good things
derived to us from God as the prime author is by Christ's media
tion : Eph. v. 20, ' Giving thanks always for all things unto God and
the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ/ For all things,
temporal, spiritual ; success of all ordinances, providences. His merit
procured the mercy, and maketh the duty acceptable.
3. We come to God in the practice of all commanded duties. A
Christian is always with God ; he liveth with him, and walketh with
him. He that is a stranger with God in his ordinary conversation can
never be familiar with him in his worship ; and the grace of faith, hope,
and love are acted, not only in worship, but ordinary practice. Whilst
having a deep sense of an invisible God, and a constant aim at an in
visible world, love doth level and direct all our actions, that we may
please this God, and attain the happiness of that unseen world. Every
righteous action is done in obedience to God and an aim at heaven,
either by a noted thought or the unobserved act of a potent habit.
Sure I am that a great part of our communion with God is carried on
in our ordinary conversation : 1 John i. 7, ' But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another/ And every
holy action is a step towards heaven, as every sinful one is in itself
a step to hell. Now this can only be by Christ. Unless we are in
him, and be assisted by his Spirit, how can we bring forth fruit unto
God ? Phil. i. 11, ' Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which
are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God/ He is the root
of your life, and you live as upon him and by his life. The apostle saith
in one clause that we are for him, in the other that we are by him ;
whole we, not only some actions of ours, but God hath put our life
into his hands ; and ' because he liveth, we live also/ John xiv. 19.
We do not use Christ only at our need, but as the branches the root,
or the members the head. We can do nothing apart from him, but
in all businesses and in all conditions we must live in him to God.
Now this is to come to God by Christ.
Use 1. To press us to improve this for our comfort and use.
1. It is an encouragement in our expectations from God, and those-
communications of grace which he exhibiteth to us in the covenant of
grace ; for here is ' one God and Father, from whom are all things, and
one Lord Jesus, by whom are all things/ God is set before you as an
all-sufficient fountain of grace, and Christ as an all-powerful mediator.
[1.] Here is 'one God and Father, from whom are all things/
Where shall we find comfort if not in God ? He can supply all our
wants, cure all our diseases, overcome all enemies, deliver us out of all
dangers. God in the new covenant is represented under the notion of
God all-sufficient, Gen. xvii. 1. He offereth himself under that notion
to engage us to trust him alone. The people of God gather it from
their covenant interest : Ps. xxiii. 1, ' The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want/ So elsewhere there is an infinite latitude in the object of faith.
This one God and Father is every way sufficient to do us good. No
pain so great but he can mitigate and remove it ; no danger so dreadful,
SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6. 271
so likely, but he can prevent ; no misery so deep but he can deliver us
from it ; no enemies so strong but he can vanquish them ; no want
that 'he cannot supply. When we have a want God cannot supply, or
a sickness that God cannot cure, or a danger that he cannot prevent, or a
misery that he cannot remove, or enemies that are too hard for him,
then you may yield to despondency of heart. Choose God for your
portion and chief happiness, and you shall want nothing ; whatever
faileth, we have an all-sufficient God still to rejoice in and depend
upon. See how largely God expresseth himself in the offers of his
grace: Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, 'For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the
Lord will give grace and glory : no good thing will he withhold from
them that walk uprightly/ We are subject to dangers and perils from
enemies bodily and spiritual ; he is our shield. We want all manner
of blessings ; now he will give us all things that truly belong to our
happiness ; he will be a sun to us : a shield here, a sun hereafter : ' I am
thy shield, and exceeding great reward.' If he be a reward, and a great
reward, it cannot come short of heaven's glory, and that eternal happi
ness which is an aggregation of all blessings. Then our sun shall be
in his meridian, and shall fully and for ever shine upon the saints. It
followeth there, ' Grace and glory will he give.' He will restore what
we lost in Adam, the image of God, the favour of God, and fellowship
with God, and bestow upon us a blessedness which possibly we should
not have had if Adam had stood — eternal life and rest in heaven, grace
to bear our expenses to heaven, and glory at the end of the way : all
manner of light, life, and comfort. See one place more : 2 Peter i. 3,
' According to his divine power hath he given unto us all things that
pertain to life and godliness.' Whatever pertaineth to life, that is, life
spiritual, the substance of every saving grace, though not the full
measure ; also a right to what may enable us to honour God in practice,,
either to an holy heart or an holy life.
[2.] Here is a complete and powerful mediator. And —
(1.) Hereby we see God in our nature, and so nearer at hand, and
ready to help us. God is become our neighbour, yea, as one of us, bone
of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. That made Laban kind to Jacob,
Gen. xxix. 14. Though he hath removed his dwelling into heaven
again, yet it is for our sakes and for our benefit ; our nature remaineth
there at the right hand of God : Heb. iv. 14, ' Seeing then that we
have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens,' &c.
(2.) God in our nature was abased, crucified, made sin, made a
curse for us, that he might pacify the justice of God, and reconcile us
to him. So that, besides the infinite mercy and power of God, there is
the infinite righteousness and everlasting redemption of a mediator.
God offended with man is fully satisfied with the ransom paid for
sinners by Christ : Mat. iii. 17, ' This is my well-beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased.'
(3.) God, having laid such a foundation, and bestowed so great a
gift upon us, will not stick at anything which is necessarily required to
make us fully and eternally happy : Kom. viii. 32, ' He that spared not
his own Son, but gave him up, &c., shall he not with him freely give us
all things ? ' Here in the text it is said, ' All things are by him ; ' such
abundant provision hath he made for man's salvation. Surely here is
272 SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS VIII. 6.
a broad foundation for our comfort and hope. Here is God appeased,
the works of the devil dissolved, our wounded natures healed, our
enemies vanquished by him as the captain of our salvation, the church
defended and maintained by him as supreme head and pastor, all kept
quiet by him between God and us as our agent and advocate ; and,
finally, he will bring us into the immediate presence of God, that we
may remain with him for evermore.
(4.) Besides the dignity of his person, consider the suitableness of
his office to our necessity. The dignity of his person must not be over
looked, for he is God-man, and therefore he is accepted by the Father,
and may be relied upon by us : Heb. ix. 14, ' How much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works, to serve the
living God ? ' Besides the institution there is an intrinsic value, Acts
xx. 28, it is called ' the blood of God.' But what a suitable as well
as valuable a remedy do his offices of king, priest, and prophet make
him I By these three offices he exerciseth the office of mediator. The
three offices are alluded unto : John xiv. 6, ' I am the way, the truth,
and the life.' The way as a priest, truth as a prophet, life as a king.
The way, because he hath removed the legal exclusion ; we were fugitives
exiled. And then truth to direct us, and give us the knowledge of God's
nature and will. The life, to begin a life of grace in us by his Spirit,
which shall be perfected in heaven. So 1 Cor. i. 30, ' But of him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption.' All the offices of Christ are there
expressed with a suitableness to our misery. Wisdom as a prophet to
cure our ignorance and folly. We had no true sense of the evil we
deserved, nor the good we wanted, nor of the way to remove the one or
obtain the other, but he convinceth and instructeth us in all these things.
We lie also under the guilt and power of sin ; that is our second
necessity ; and so Christ is made righteousness and sanctification as a
priest ; for he gave himself to cleanse us from sin, Eph. v. 26. We are
also liable to many miseries introduced by sin, yea, under a necessity of
dying and perishing for ever ; therefore Christ is made redemption
as a king, and as captain of our salvation at length fully redeemed us
from all evil : Kom. viii. 23, ' And not only they, but ourselves also,
which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of our bodies ;
Luke xxi. 28, 'And when these things begin to come to pass, then lift
up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh : Eph. iv. 30, ' And
grieve not the Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemp
tion.' Thus you see how amply we are provided for in Christ. It may
as well be said, ' By him are all things,' as it may be said of the
Father, ' From whom are all things/
2. Another improvement is to engage and encourage us to make
those returns of love, worship, and obedience, service and glory, which
are expected and required of us. There is something which reflecteth
from us upon God, from all this grace and mercy, which God dispensed
by the Mediator. We must be for him, and we must be by him. It
is more than if it were said, We must serve him, glorify him. We in
our whole capacity ; we must be whatever we are, and do whatever
we dc, to God, and for God, by the Mediator.
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS VIII. 6. 273
[1.] We must enter into covenant with him, and give the hand to
the Lord, and consent to be his : Isa, xliv. 5, ' One shall say, I am the
Lord's ; another shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; and another
shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord.' They should enter
their names to God to be entered into his muster-roll, or listed among
the faithful that belong to him, and are listed for his service; a
member of that body whereof Christ is head, a subject of that kingdom
whereof Christ is king : 2 Cor. viii. 5, it is said, ' But first gave their
own selves unto the Lord ; ' Bom. xii. 1, ' Present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.'
Christ gave himself a sin-offering, and we give up ourselves a thank-
offering.
[2.] There must be a strong love to God ever at work in our hearts,
levelling and directing all our actions to his glory ; and this love must
be an impression of the love showed to us by Christ, a thankful sense
of his mercies and benefits : 1 John iv. 19, ' We love him, because he
loved us first ; ' 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ constraineth us.' Love
is an earnest bent and inclination of heart towards our chief good and
last end, and its effect and work is to devote ourselves to his service,
will, and honour, longing after more of God, and continually seeking
for it : Ps. Ixiii. 1, ' 0 God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thee :
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land where no water is.' A soul that hath chosen God for its
portion cannot want him, nor be long without him, nor satisfied with
any partial enjoyment of him, therefore still seeketh for more. The
main work of this life is a desirous seeking after God, and getting
nearer to their last end by all the means which God hath appointed us
to use.
[3.] There must be a constant study and care to please, honour, and
glorify this God : Acts xxvii. 23, ' Whose I am, and whom I serve.'
If we be dedicated to Godj there must be conscience of our dedication,
that we may live unto God : and this not now and then, but in our
whole course. All our faculties, bodies, souls : 1 Cor. vi. 1,9, 20,
' What ! know ye net that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in your body and
in your spirit, which are God's.' Estates : Kom. xiv. 7-9i, ' For none of
us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself : for whether we live,
we live unto the Lord ; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord:
whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end
Christ both died, and rose again, and revived, that he might be Lord
both of dead and living ; ' Phil. i. 21, ' To me to live is Christ.' All
our actions, not only in solemn acts of worship, but in our ordinary
conversations, must be directed to him : Zech. xiv. 20, 21, ' In that
day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness to the Lord ;
and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the
altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to
the Lord of hosts.'
VOL. XVIIL
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
Wliile we look not at the things luhich are seen, but at the things which
are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the
things which are not seen are eternal. — 2 COR. iv. 18.
IN the context the apostle is giving an account why he fainted not
under the labours and afflictions of the gospel. There is a threefold
reason given —
1. The present benefit of afflictions, ver. 16. As much as these
labours and afflictions did diminish and infringe the comforts of the
animal life, so much the state of the spiritual life was advanced and
increased. Oh ! it is a blessed thing when the inward man groweth
more fresh and lively.
2. Because those afflictions did increase the hope of the life of glory,
and were a blessed means to make it more sure and nearer ; where
there is a perfect opposition between the present and future state.
Here ' an affliction for a moment ; ' there ' an eternal weight of glory.'
Here afflictions are light; there it is /3apo? SO^T;?, a state that will
bear weight, V7rep(3o\r]v el? vTrep@o\r)v, an excellently excellent : * A
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glbry.'
3. The third reason is taken from the subject, as the former respec
ted the object. His mind was wholly intent upon better things ; not
upon temporal and visible, but upon heavenly and eternal : ' While
we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are
not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal.' ' •
Wherein you may observe- —
1. A distinction between two sorts of things ; some seen, some not
seen.
2. A suitable respect to either. There is an overlooking of the one,
a looking to the other.
3. The reason of this different respect : ' For the things that are seen
are temporal ; ' and ' the things that are not seen are eternal.'
1. The distinction may be explained thus — (1.) The things seen are
such as are liable to present sense ; and they are of two sorts — either
comfortable to the present life, or uncomfortable. Comfortable, as
riches, pleasure, and honours ; uncomfortable, as poverty, disgrace,
pain, torment, persecution. In short, either the allurements or affright-
ments of sense. (2.) There are things unseen. Some things are
invisible by reason of their nature, some by reason of their distance.
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 275
Some by reason of their nature, as God and all spiritual things ; some
by reason of their distance, as the recompense of reward or eternal life ;
these latter chiefly. God, who maketh the promise, is unseen, and the
time when the promise of eternal life shall be made good is to come ;
and there are many difficulties between hoping and having ; yet these
things, the joys of the other world, were the objects of the apostle's faith
and hope.
2. The different respect to either. The respect is denied to things
seen, ' We look not/ &c., but strongly asserted as to things unseen, ' We
look at things that are not seen.' There is a despising or not thinking
of the world and the comforts thereof, the losses and sufferings thereof,
but an earnest thinking of the world to come. The word is CTKOTTOVVTWV,
which implieth not only a looking, or minding of them, but a making
of them our scope, our last end, and the mark which we aim at.
Only note, that the act is not simply 'denied as to things seen, but
comparatively, in comparison of that heavenly joy and glory which is
promised. So we look not at these things ; the world's honour or dis
honour, the commodities or discommodities of this life, which we daily
see before our eyes, have little influence upon us, 1 Cor. vii. 29-31.
So all our acts are non-acts. To mourn for sin as if we mourned not,
to rejoice in Christ as if we rejoiced not, to use ordinances as if we used
them not, is a great fault ; for these are the things we should look to,
as the way to heaven. But to mourn1 for worldly losses, or rejoice in
worldly comforts, to use this life as not over-using it, that is a great
duty and a blessed frame of spirit. Open the eye of faith, but shut that
of sense.
3. The reason of this different respect — the one temporal, the other
eternal, TO, /3Xe7ro/iem, -irpoa-Kaipa ; as Heb. xi. 25, Trpoo-tcaipov a?roX-
ava-iv, ' The pleasures of sin for a season.' The good things of
the world are temporal, both as to their continuance and their use.
To their continuance ; the good and evil of the world is soon over, and
therefore should have little influence upon us. The evil : 'This light
affliction, which is but for a moment.' The good, Heb. xi. 25, they
are but for a season, and nothing that is but for a season can satisfy a
gracious heart. They are temporary as to their use. The use of all the
good things in this world is only to be serviceable to a man in his passage
to eternity : Deut. xxiii. 24, ' When thou comest into thy neighbour's
vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill, at thine own pleasure ;
but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel ; ' 1 Tim. vi. 7, * We brought
nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out ; '
Eccles. v. 15, ' He shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry
away in his hand.' And on the other side, ra ^ fZXeiropeva alavia,
The things which are not seen are eternal;' and so, so much as
eternity exceedeth time, these blessed things exceed temporal trifles,
and therefore should be more valued by us. The greatness of heavenly
things is expressed in the former verse ; here, the duration of them.
We can part with nothing here equal to what we expect hereafter.
Doct. A man can easily do and suffer anything for God who hath
made things unseen and eternal his great scope and aim.
Here I shall inquire — (1.) What it is to make these eternal things
our scope and aim ; (2.) Give you the reasons why such an one hath
1 Qu. ' not to mourn ' ? — ED.
276 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
an advantage above other men, and can more easily do and suffer great
things for God.
First, Let us open this looking.
First, It implieth faith, or a believing the reality of these invisible
things, that there are eternal and glorious things to be enjoyed after
this life. Certainly an object, though never so glorious, cannot be
seen without eyes. Now faith is the eye of the soul, without which
we can have no prospect of the world to come. Therefore faith is
defined to be, Heb. xi. 1, ' The substance of things hoped for, and the
evidence of things not seen.' Without faith, reason is shortsighted,
and there is a deep mist upon eternity, 2 Peter i. 9. Keason is acute
enough in discerning what is noxious and comfortable to the present
life, good for back and belly ; but it seeth little of anythiog beyond
this present world, so as to quicken us to make any preparation for
death and eternity. The mind hath no eyes to look beyond the mists
and clouds of this lower world, but such as the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation is pleased to give us, and cannot believe the reality of the
unseen glory until in his light we see light, Eph. i. 17, 18. Alas !
the wisest part of mankind are taken up with toys and childish trifles
in comparison of these invisible things. The sweetness of honour,
wealth, and pleasure is known easily by feeling, and therefore known
easily, and known^ by all ; but few can see the reality and worth of
these unseen things. Though heaven and glory be talked of in their
hearing, yet they know it not It is quite another thing when it is
represented to us in the light of the Spirit. None discern the worth
of these things but those that have the eagle eye of faith, that can
pierce above the clouds to the seat of the blessed. Faith is like a
prospective-glass, by which we see things at a distance. Others only
mind things at hand, things that may be seen and felt. Compare
lumen fideiy the light of faith, with the light of sense. That one
degree of light, the light of sense, can only discern things near us,
present with us, and before our eyes. Those things which lie out of
the view of sense make no impression upon them. They see nothing
but these corporal things, which even dogs and horses see as well as
they ; as, for instance, that it is good to eat well, and drink well, and
sleep well, to be at liberty and enjoy our pleasure, or mind our busi
ness here in the world, and thrive and prosper, and do well according
to heart's desire ; but the light of faith will discover that there is no
such danger as perishing for ever, no such worth in anything as there
is in salvation by Christ, no such business of importance as seeking
after eternal life ; that all the gay things of sense are but as so many
May-games to this happiness, all the terrible things in the world but
as a flea-biting, all the business of the world but as a little childish
sport at push-pin in comparison of working out our salvation with fear
and trembling. Much of Christianity lieth in opening the eye of faith
and shutting that of sense. Faith can look through all the clouds
and changes of this world to those eternal, perpetual, solid good things
which God hath prepared for them that love him, and so can the better
contemn all those perishing vanities which the world doteth upon.
This is that which is called in the text looking and not looking, &c.
The next degree of light is lumen rationis. Reason can only guess
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 277
at future contingencies, or at best see things in their causes, and that
it is probable, if nothing letteth, that such and such things will fall
out ; but faith can look through all distance both of time and place,
and the mist of contrary appearances, to things promised, with such
certainty and sure persuasion as if the things we are persuaded of
were at hand: Heb. xi. 13, 'These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of
them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth ; ' John viii. 56, ' Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.' Still it can believe in
hope against hope, and see sunshine at the back of the storm, and
heaven and happiness in the midst of deep afflictions. Compare the
lumen fidei with the lumen prophetice, Rev. xx. 12. They agree in
the common object, such things as are revealed by God ; they agree
in the same common nature, that they see things future and to come
with such clearness and certainty as if they were in being ; they differ,
because faith goeth upon the common revelation which God hath
made to all the saints in scripture ; the other, some special revelation,
made to certain chosen persons. The light of faith affects the heart
with great joy and comfort; the other is usually accompanied with rap
ture and ecstasy. Yea, let us compare it with lumen glorioe, the beati
fical vision, that worketh a change in body and soul, 1 John iii. 2. This
in soul, 2 Cor. iii. 18. There we see him face to face, 1 Cor. xiii. 12 ;
here as in a glass. Though we are not so highly affected with the light
of faith, yet as truly: that nullifieth all sin and misery; this exaspera-
teth the heart against sin, and fortifieth it against misery. Though the
light of faith giveth not as full an enjoyment of God, yet as sure, and
proportionably affecteth the heart, as if we saw Christ in the midst of
his holy ones, and Paul with his crown of righteousness. It puts the
believer's head above the clouds, in the midst of the glory of the world
to come. Once more, this lumen fidei is somewhat like that sight
which God hath of things — scientia visionis et simplicis intelligentice.
God seeth all things that may be in his own all-sufficiency, all things
that shall be in his own decree. Faith acts proportionably ; it showeth
all things that may be in the all-sufficiency of God, and though it be
not sure of the event, yet ' our God is able,' Dan. iii. 17, 18. It seeth
all things that shall be in the promises of the gospel, wherein his
decree is manifested ; it realiseth them as if they were already ;
they have a pledge of the blessing when they have the promise.
Now, if we had such a faith, could thus look to things unseen, it
would produce notable effects; a man would be another manner of
Christian.
Secondly, It implieth an earnest hope as well as a lively faith. Hope
irnplieth two things — (1.) A frequent meditation ; (2.) A desirous
expectation.
1. Frequent meditation ; for faith is acted by serious thoughts.
Carnal men are described to be those ' who mind earthly things/ Phil,
iii. 19 ; and again, ' Who mind the things of the flesh,' Rom. viii. 5.
As a man is in the constitution of his heart, so are his musings and
meditations ; for thoughts, being the genuine birth and immediate
offspring of the soul, do discover the temper of it. But those that are of
278 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 1&
an heavenly temper and frame do often exercise their minds in heavenly
things. Their happiness lieth there, and their business tendeth thither.
Our Lord telleth us, ' That where the treasure is, there the heart will
be," Mat. vi. 21. A man's treasure draweth his heart after it ; and
therefore if his treasure be laid up in him, his heart will be there also.
The mind is wholly taken up by these great things, that other things
are little minded by them. But alas ! it is otherwise with the generality
of men. Our thoughts of heavenly blessedness are few and cold. Oh !
that we should throng our hearts with all manner of vanity, when we
have eternity to think upon ; that all the day long we should be regard
ing this perplexing business, that carnal vanity and delight, and
thoughts of heavenly things should be such strangers to us ! Is this
looking to things not seen ? We are continually thinking of what we
love ; worldly men, of gathering and increasing wealth, Luke xii. 17,
18 ; ambitious men, of preferment and applause ; voluptuaries, of
sports and pastimes. Philopcemen, wherever he walked, was thinking
of battles : if he should be assaulted on such a piece of ground, how he
would model and dispose his army for his defence. A Christian should
be thinking of heaven, how he may get thither, and what he shall
enjoy there. They who do not think often, earnestly, and warmly of
heaven and heavenly things, surely have little expectation this way.
They are transported with pleasing sensualities, and have cold thoughts
of the hope of the glory of God.
2. A desirous expectation. Looking is often made the act of hope
in scripture ; as Titus ii. 13, ' Looking for the blessed hope ; ' and Phil,
iii. 20, ' Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ/ And so to look to things unseen
noteth an affectionate and desirous expectation of them. A man may
believe things terrible, and yet he cannot be said to look to them ; that
is, longingly to wait for them. Therefore this looking hath the earnest
ness of hope in it, as well as the firm persuasion of faith. There is a
vehement longing and desire after the actual possession of these things,
without which faith is a dead opinion or a speculative assent ; our hope
is but a few cold ineffectual thoughts, or an hasty wish or a slight
desire, not that earnest looking which the scripture calleth for : Col.
iii. 2, ' Set your affections on things above, not on things on earth.'
There must be lively affections; there must be groaning earnestly,
2 Cor. v. 2 ; longing, and desiring to be with Christ, Phil. i. 23. Affec
tions add a strong bent and poise to the will.
Thirdly, This looking argueth a fixing of the mind upon these things
as our aim and scope, O-KOTTOVVTVWV ; that is the word used. That is our
scope which influences all our actions ; when we do all things to eternal
ends, either nextly or ultimately. That we may obtain eternal life,
that is the great drift, purpose, and business of a Christian. This is
the end of our faith, 1 Peter i. 9 ; the end of our diligence, and of all
our service and waiting upon God, and that which sets us a-work in
our general and particular calling : Acts xxvi. 7, ' Unto which promise
our twelve tribes, serving God day and night, hope to come.' This is
our great ambition, the end of all our labours, 2 Cor. v. 9 ; still to
drive on a trade for heaven, this is the end of our sufferings : 1 Tim.
iv. 12, ' Therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 279
in the living God.' He head spoken of godliness having the promise of
this .life and that which is to come ; therefore this is our aim and scope.
I now come to show you —
Secondly, Why such have an advantage above other men, and can
more easily do and suffer great things for God. This appeareth —
1. From the object. They that look to things unseen and eternal
are acquainted with greater things than those are whose thoughts, and
projects, and designs, are confined within the narrow bounds of time.
Every one hath a choiceness, greatness, and excellency of spirit,
according to the objects he most converseth withal. We count them
children of mean spirit who converse only with pins and points, and
toys and rattles ; we count those of a meaner spirit that have only a
cow to milk, or a field to till, or a lute to play upon, than those that
have a commonwealth to manage, or to make a little city great. So
those that are gotten upon the mount of eternity can look upon the
most serious business of the world as a mere May-game in comparison
of enjoying God, and living for ever in delightful communion with
him. They that have made eternal things their choice and scope have
this advantage above other men, that they are acquainted with such
excellent things as will darken the glory of all worldly things, and
lessen them in their opinion, estimation, and affection (as a man that
hath looked upon the sun in its brightness, for a while can look upon
nothing else, as being dazzled with the splendour and brightness of
it) ; things invisible, whether present or future, either because of nature
or distance. They can set God against the creature, the terrors of God
against all the terrors of sense, and the everlasting enjoyment of God
against all the delights of sense.
[1.] Things invisible, because of their essence and nature. There
is an eternal God against a poor creature whose breath is in his nostrils,
a God who is all in all, and a creature who is nothing. Nothing in
opposition or contrariety to God or his people : Isa. xli. 11, ' Behold,
they that are incensed against thee shall be as nothing.' Nothing in
comparison with God : Isa. xl. 17, ' All nations before him are as
nothing ; they are accounted less than nothing and vanity ; ' Dan. iv.
35, ' The inhabitants of the earth are reputed before him as nothing.'
Nothing by way of exclusion of God ; as the sunbeam is. nothing when
the sun withdraweth, or the sound is nothing when the musician taketh
away his mouth from the pipe or instrument : ' Thou takest away their
breath, and they die.' The creature beareth a big bulk in the eye of
sense, seemeth not only to be something, but all things ; and so long
as we look to things visible, what hope or comfort have we to fasten
upon ? but to a man that looketh to things invisible, the amiableness
and frightfulness of the creature vanisheth into nothing : Heb. xi. 27,
' By faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king ; for
he endured, as seeing him that is invisible ; ' that is, with loss of all
attempted to bring the people out of Egypt. He saw him not by the
eye of sense, but faith. And then all the princes and powers of the
world are as nothing. Alas ! when we see great and most enraged
enemies, our hearts fail within us ; but faith, by closing the eye of
sense, winketh the creature into nothing. On the other side, if a man
had a due sense of God's being, the tempting baits of the world would
280 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
scarce be seen ; riches, and honours, and pleasures, would be forgotten,
as if they were not, Prov. xxiii. 5 ; all things would be as nothing in
comparison of him.
{2.] Things invisible because of their distance, as they are future ; so
a believer hath the advantage of other men. They that look to things
invisible and eternal see something to outweigh all carnal allectives or
terrors, and so have more incitations to piety than the world can
afford temptations to the contrary. Take the terrors of sense ; what
is a prison to hell ? the fire wherein God's servants are burnt to ashes,
to the -fire that shall never be quenched and the worm that shall never
die ? Luke x. 4. So take the delights and allurements of sense ; what
are those to the pleasures at God's right hand for evermore ? A man
that looketh to things unseen seeth that the terrors and delights of
faith are far greater than the terrors and delights of sense, and are
more sure and certain. Alas ! the pleasures of the world are but as
dung and dog's-meat to Christ, Phil. iii. 7-9. All the evils are but
as a flea-biting in comparison of the promised glory : Horn. viii. 18,
' For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us ; ' and
2 Cor. iv. 17, ' Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; ' Heb. x. 34,
' Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves
that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.' They
were liable to violence and rapine, brought before tribunals, &c., yet
all this was nothing to these greater things. As it darkens the glory
of worldly things, so it lesseneth the evil of them.
2. From the subject. They that make eternal things their scope,
they have a new temper of heart. The soul naturally doth run out
upon present things, as the greatest and only realities : ' That which
is born of flesh is flesh,' John iii. 6. Yea, all the while the soul
dwelleth in flesh, and worketh by the senses, these present things will
be a temptation to us. But there is a new bias and bent put upon
them by grace ; there is an eternal principle that carrieth them to
eternal ends. It is called ' The seed of God/ 1 John iii. 9 ; ' The divine
nature, which maketh us escape the corruption that is in the world
.'Jirough lust,' .2 Peter i. 4. Such a nature as giveth eternal riches a due
nralue and esteem. It is an immortal seed, 1 Peter i. 22. Eternal life
is begun in all that shall be saved ; it is working towards its final per
fection. The apostle telleth us, ' That he that hateth his brother hath
not eternal life abiding in him/ 1 John iii. 15 ; implying that he that
loveth his brother, or hath any grace, hath eternal life begun in him
which is working towards perfection.
3. From the slightness of temptations, when a man once groweth
dead to the impressions of sense. The corrupt heart of man is all for
present satisfactions, and though the pleasures of sin be short and
inconsiderable, yet, because they are near at hand, they take more with
us than the joys of heaven, which are future and absent : 2 Tim. iv. 10,
' Demas hath forsaken us, and loved the present world.' Esau for one
morsel of meat sold hi^ birthright, Heb. xii. 16. When lust impor
tunately craved a present satisfaction, all future considerations were
laid aside. A little ease, honour, gain, and preferment in the world
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 281
makes men part with all that is sacred. Surely the presentness of
things is a great snare ; therefore do afflictions seem too grievous, Heb.
xii. 11, and temptations so pressing. We can taste the delights of the
creature, and feel the pleasures of the flesh ; the happiness of the world
to come is unseen and unknown. ' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow
we shall die,' is the language of every carnal heart ; therefore it will
not venture upon the practice of duties difficult and distasteful to present
affections, and forego what we see and enjoy upon the uncertain hopes
of what is to come. Present things have more advantage to pervert
the mind than good things at a distance to draw it to God. Here lieth
the root of all temptations ; the inconveniencies of a strict religion are
present, and the rewards are future. Well, this advantage is nothing
to those that can overlook present things, and have their hearts wholly
taken up about things to come. Sense and faith are the two opposite
leaders and captains in the spiritual warfare. All the forces of the
regenerate part are led up by faith ; sense on the other side, marshalleth
all the temptations of the world and the flesh. Sense is all for enjoy
ment and actual possession. To meet it, faith giveth a substance and
being to things to come, and maketh the soul seek out other satisfac
tions and contentments. The strength of the renewed part and success
of the spiritual battle lieth in the liveliness of hope and the certainty
of faith, which maketh these things present which sense would judge
absent. It forestalleth the joys of heaven, that restraints from present
delights may. seem less irksome ; so that a little profit or present
pleasure cannot prevail over that deep sense of everlasting joys and
pleasures that are to come. Take, for instance, Moses : Heb. xi. 24-
26, ' By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ;
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.' Faith
showeth we shall lose nothing in this world, but we shall have much
better in the other world. Looking to these things sweetens the
bitterness of all crosses, and weakeneth the strength of all temptations :
Horn. viii. 18, ' For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'
4. From the nature of the scope and end. It is a measure and a
motive.
[1.] It is a measure to direct us how to use all things. When a
man hath fixed his end, he will the sooner understand his way. The
intention is as the eye of the body: Mat. vii. 22, 'The light of the body
is the eye ; if a man's eye be single, the whole body is full of light.'
Every man is made wise by his end, for the end is the measure of the
means. Now, above all other ends, eternity must needs make us wise,
because it is the last end, the most noble end which we can propound
to ourselves ; and so thereby can understand the true measure and value
of all things, in things evil or good.
In things evil, it showeth how really evil things really evil are ; as
•in. The weight and grievousness of sin is best known by those eternal
torments which are appointed for the punishment thereof. Present
punishments do somewhat discover it : ' Now know that it is an evil
282- SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
thing, and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God,' Jer. ii.
19. Briars and thorns, and sensible smart, will teach us that which
bare contemplation doth not. But if the temporal punishment rnaketh
us know, ' What an evil thing and a bitter it is,' what will eternal do ?
Go ask the damned in hell whether it be a light thing to sin against
God : Mark ix. 44, ' Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched/
Here is the great aggravation of sin, that for temporal trifles they
have lost eternal joys, and run the hazard of eternal pains for the ease,
mirth, and pleasure of a moment. And then for things evil in opinion,
it showeth how falsely we are deluded ; as afflictions, sufferings, and
losses for Christ, death, &c. It much concerneth us to have a true notion
of these things. For afflictions, it showeth that they are not so bad
as the world taketh them to be. They are tedious for the present, but
it is but for a season : 1 Peter i. 6, ' Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season (if need be) ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations,' All things are lessened by having eternity in our minds,
the delights of the world, and the sorrows of the world, 1 Cor. vii. 29.
Since the world passeth away, and the fashion thereof, we should rejoice
as if we rejoiced not, mourn as if we mourned not ; the good and evil
will be soon over. We cry out, How long ? but it is not for ever. It
is grievous, but it is not eternal, it is not hell ; yea, they maybe good :
Ps. cxix. 71, ' It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might
learn thy statutes.' All things are good as they help on a blessed eter
nity ; so afflictions may be good. That part of the world that is led
by sense will never endure this, but that part which is led by faith will
easily assent to it. The world is led by sense. Say to a covetous man
that the loss of an estate is good, to a worldly rich man that poverty is
good, to an ambitious man that it is good to be despised and contemned,
to a voluptuous man that it is good to be in pain, to afflict the body
for the good of the soul, they will never believe you. But go to them
that measure all things by eternity, and they will tell you that poverty
maketh way for the true riches, mourning for the true glory, want for
fulness of pleasure at God's right hand, that misery mortifieth sin : 1
Cor. xi. 32, ' When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord, that
we should not be condemned with the world.' Sufferings for Christ :
if we win eternity with the loss of all the world, we are no losers ; for
' The world passeth away, and the lusts thereof, but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever,' 1 John ii. 17. But, on the contrary, it
is a sorry bargain to lose eternity for the enjoyment of all the world :
Mat. xvi. 26, ' For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul ? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul ? ' And then death, the king of terrors; yet it is not feared
by a Christian, because it is an entrance into eternal life ; when he
dieth, then shall he live : John xi. 25, 26, ' I am the resurrection and
the life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he
live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believest thou this ?' If we have a sense of this, why should we be
troubled to be unclothed, that we may be clothed upon with immortal
ity and glory ? It separateth us from our worldly friends and benefits,
but bringeth us to God, with whom we shall abide for ever ; it puts an
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 283
end to time, that we may enter into eternity ; so that death is ours, 1
Cor. iii. 22 ; a friend, not an enemy ; it maketh an end of sin and sorrow,
to make way for blessedness and glory.
For things good ; good seeming, or good real. Good seeming : There
are many things which the vain deceived world doteth upon, which are
i in pertinencies to our great end; as foolish sports and recreations:
Eccles. ii. 2, ' I said of laughter, It is mad, and of mirth, What doetb
it ? ' There are other things which are mere inconsistencies ; as many
evils which we commit for a little temporal happiness. Then real good
things; duties, ordinances, graces, Christ, the favour of God. We
know how to value these things by looking to eternity. The good
things of this world are not valuable only upon a natural account, but
as they are helps to heaven. If they be diversions from eternity, they
are the worst things that can befall us. To be condemned to this kind
of felicity is a part of God's curse : Jer. xvii. 13, ' They that forsake
thee shall be written in the earth.' On the contrary, to have our names
written in heaven is a great blessing : Luke x. 20, ' Notwithstanding
in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you ; but rather
rejoice because your names are written in heaven.' It is better to
enjoy a little as a help to heaven than a great deal as a hindrance
to it. Oh ! blessed is the man that taketh no further content in the
comforts of this life than they may further his soul to eternity t If an
estate increase upon you, it is most valuable as you may be rich in good
works, and take hold of eternal life, 1 Tim. vi. 18. When your hearts
rest in them without subordination to eternal things, your estate
becometh a snare. Whatever the heart is set upon, if it be not in
order to this end and scope, it is cursed to thee. The spiritual blessing
of all our natural comforts is in order to this last end. But then for
duties ; time spent with God in order to eternity is the best part of
your lives, Acts xxvi. 7. When we are employed in the world, we
make provision but for a few months or days, it may be hours ; but in
converse with God you lay up for everlasting : the throne of grace will
be the more sweet because it is the porch of heaven : ordinances and
public means of grace, a child of God valueth them more than the
greatest worldly advantages : Ps. Ixxxiv. 12, ' One day in thy courts
is better than a thousand : I had rather be a door-keeper in the house
of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.' But why ?
Because there is trading for eternity ; there he gets a prospect into
heaven,' and heareth news of his long home. And then graces ; they
are glorious things, because they are the seed and earnest of eternal
glory. It is called ' immortal seed,' 1 Peter i. 23. When this state is
begun, it cannot be dissolved. And it is called the earnest of the
Spirit : graces as well as comforts are his earnest. By all these things
the Holy Ghost is preparing us for eternity, Kom. ix. 23 ;' assuring us
of eternity, Eph. i. 13, 14. And then Christ is valued as the author of
eternal salvation, Heb. v. 9 ; as the means of coming to God, Phil,
iii. 8—10. Things seen are vilified and contemned by them. Lastly,
the favour of God, that we enjoy here. It is valuable in itself, and as
it is a taste and pledge of our everlasting communion with him : Ps.
xvi. 11, 'In thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand
pleasures for evermore ; ' Ps. xvii. 15, 'As for me, I will behold thy
284 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy
likeness.' Our taste now assure th us of our everlasting satisfaction.
Thus you see eternity giveth us the true measure whereby to know the
worth and weight of everything.
[2.] It is our motive to quicken us to be more diligent, more exact,
and to pursue after those things with greater vigilancy, industry, and
self-denial. Industry ; a man that will be rich in the world chooseth
apt means, learneth all the ways of thrift, and dexterously pursueth his
purpose ; rising early, going to bed late, piercing himself through with
many sorrows: he beareth it all patiently, because it is his end. A man
given to pleasures chooseth that course of life wherein he may most
enjoy them ; sacrificeth his time, credit, estate, to gratify his end. So
one addicted to honours and advancement ; he tortureth himself with
many carking thoughts and tedious attendances, and projects how to
rise, and to be built a story higher. So a man that rnaketh things
unseen his scope taketh God's way to enjoy them, laboureth for these
things : John vi. 27, ' Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for
that meat which endureth unto everlasting life ; ' and Phil. ii. 12, ' Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling.' And then we must
use vigilancy, that our lives may not be filled up with impertinencies
and inconsistencies : Eph. v. 15, ' See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise ; ' Heh. iv. 1, ' Let us therefore fear, lest a pro
mise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to
come short of it.' And then we must exercise self-denial, denying our
selves in our interests, comforts, ease, peace, life, and all that is dear and
precious to us. The Thessalonians are said to suffer for the kingdom of
God, because in the midst of tribulations and troubles they look for a
future rest : 2 Thes. i. 5, with 7. And so it is said, Heb. xi. 35, ' They
were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better
resurrection/ They might have been freed from those cruel pains on
certain conditions, but they would rather wait for God's deliverance
than accept of man's, though it were invisible, and yet so long to come.
They knew in the resurrection God would give them an immortal,
glorious, and blessed life, for a short and miserable one, and recompense
their cruel pains with eternal pleasures.
Use 1. To press us to get this heavenly frame and temper of spirit ;
to look to things invisible as sure and near, and to make them our
great scope ; that all which we do may tend thereunto, and be subor
dinate to eternal life.
1. Kemember we were made for eternity ; for God hath given us
an immortal spirit, which cannot be content with anything that hath
an end. If we had souls that would perish, it would be more justifiable
to look after things that perish. No ; they will eternally survive these
present things : Eccles. xii. 7, ' Then shall the dust return to the earth
as it was, and the spirit to God that gave it.' Here we fly away as a
shadow upon the mountains,, come to act our part up" on the stage of
the world, and are gone ; what is this to endless eternity ? Surely
that estate should be most in our eyes. How do you imagine you
shall live after this life ? When you die, all the thoughts that con
cern the present world perish, and if you did perish too, it were no
such great matter ; but still you live, and enter eternity, and it is sad
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 285
when you have no happiness to enjoy. It is good often to consider
what the soul shall do when it shall be turned out of doors : Luke
xvi'. 9, ' Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,
that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations ; '
that it may not be left shiftless and harbourless.
2. Eternity is made known to us Christians, and clearly set before
us, 2 Tim. i. 10. What is the drift of the religion which you profess
but to draw us off to another world, 1 Cor. ii. 12. Wherefore were
you baptized but in order to eternity. Then you began your months
of purification. Therefore it is said, 2 Peter i. 9, ' He that lacketh
these things is blind and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that
he was purged from his old sins.' What is the notion of a Christian ?
Strangers and pilgrims : 1 Peter ii. 11, ' Dearly beloved I beseech you,
as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against
the soul.' Christ came not here to settle us in a state of prosperity,
nor to make the world our rest and portion. No ; he came to bring
up our hearts first, and then ourselves, to a better world, which he
calleth upon us to seek and make sure of. He came to save us from
the present evil world, Gal. i. 4 ; ndt to fix upon it.
3. We are already involved in an eternal misery, and stand under a
sentence binding us over to the curse and wrath of God : John iii. 18,
' Condemned already.' Nothing but the slender thread of a frail life
between us and execution. How can we sleep in sin so near eternity,
and laugh and dance over the brink of hell, and trifle away our times
before we have taken a sure way to escape this misery ! The scriptures
show us the way of escaping this misery and attaining to eternal blessed
ness. Oh, flee from wrath to come ! Mat. iii. Run for refuge. A
man cannot be soon enough out of the state of sin and wrath.
4. You shall be shortly summoned to your account : Luke xvi. 2,
' Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no Ibnger
steward.' You have received so much from me, such riches, such
honours, such parts, such sufficiencies, what have you done with them ?
What will the poor carnal wretch answer in that day when the diligent
shall be rewarded with everlasting life and the negligent be cast into
everlasting fire ? In the present time, you either win or lose eternity.
5. Consider what poor deluded souls, that are in the everlasting
estate, would give if they might be trusted with a little time again,
that they might provide for eternity. How happy would they think
themselves if God would but try them once more ! Their remembrance
of their past folly and evil choice is a part of their perpetual torment,
matter for the gnawing worm to feed upon, Mark ix. 44. If carnal,
careless creatures would but anticipate the thoughts of another world,
they would sooner discern their mistake. How miserably will you
bewail yourselves when you have lost eternity for poor temporal things.
What comfort will it be to you that you have been merry, lived in
pomp and ease ? It is better to believe than try, to prevent the misery
than experiment it. Now for means to help you —
[1.] Use frequent recollection, for thereby you come to yourselves :
Luke xv. 17, ' And when he came to himself he said, How many
hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I
perish with hunger?' Many are so busy about their vanities, that
286 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
they cannot find that they are men, or think what business they have
to do in the world, nor where they must dwell for ever. Self-commun
ing would .be a hopeful means to undeceive them : Isa. xlvi. 8,
' Remember this, and show yourselves men ; bring it again to mind, 0
ye transgressors/ And elsewhere the prophet showeth what reasonings
we should use with ourselves, Isa. Iv. 2. Surely this would be one
means to wean you from carnal vanities, and to deaden the gust and
taste of them to your souls. Most men debase their reason to the
service of their appetites and lusts ; their pleasure and business is the
pleasing and gratifying of the flesh, Rom. xiii. 14. All their care is to
eat well and drink well, to be well fed and well clad, and to make a
fair show in the flesh, and live in worldly pomp. All their business is
to gather in provision for the satisfying of their present lusts. They
spend their days and cares for nothing else, which is that living after
the flesh, Rom. viii. 13, that sowing to the flesh, Gal. v. 8, which the
scripture condemnetk And what is the reason of all this ? Because
they are inconsiderate ; never consider, Whence am I, whither am I a-
going ? what shall become of me to all eternity ? Ps. cxix. 59, ' I
thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.' They
are like children hunting after butterflies; and when they have them,
their gaudy wings melt away in their hands, and there remaineth
nothing but an ugly worm, the worm of conscience, the worm of disap
pointment. 0 recollect thyself ! is this to make eternal things our
scope ?
[2.] Let us often compare together the condition of the present and
of the future life. All things that are liable to the view of sense soon
pass away, whether comforts or crosses. The good and evil of the
present world are soon over ; accordingly should be our carriage
towards them, 1 Cor. vii. 29-31. Now consider how unreasonable it is
the soul should be drawn away by transitory things from those which
are eternal. The things we doat upon are not worthy to be compared
with the greatness and duration of those things to which we are invited
by the promises of the gospel. It may be you have health and strength
and wealth now, but how long will you have it ? We are not sure of
the enjoyment of these things the next day. How soon may they be
withered ! the prosperity of the wicked is cut down as grass, withered
as the green herb, Ps. xxxvii. 2 ; but things unseen will be yours to
all eternity. God is an everlasting portion : Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' My flesh
and my heart faileth ; but God is the strength of my heart, and my
portion for ever.' Christ's redemption is an everlasting redemption :
Heb. ix. 12, ' He entered ia once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us.' God and Christ will be yours to-day, and
will be yours to all eternity. Those things which are seen, if they do
not perish, may be taken from you, Mat. vi. 1 9, 20. We are not sure to get
it, but you are sure to leave it, Job i. 21, but these other things cannot
be taken from you : Luke x. 42, ' One thing is needful, and Mary hath
chosen that good part which shall not be taken from her.' The devil
cannot and God will not take it from you.
[3.] Improve your experience of the vanity of this world : Ps. cxix
96, ' I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandments are
exceeding broad.' Vain, light hearts pass over these things, and get
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 287
no profit by them ; they find the creature vanity and vexation of
spirit, yet run out as greedily after it as they did before : Ps. xlix. 13,
' This their way is their folly, yet their posterity approve their
sayings.' They are sensible of the folly of their ancestors, but are not
mended by it ; they have eyes to see, but not an heart to see : Deut
xxix. 2-4, ' Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the
land of Egypt, unto Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land :
the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those
great miracles : yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive,
and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.'
[4.] Be sure when you are tempted to revive this meditation upon
your hearts, that things seen are temporal, and things unseen are
eternal. As (1.) When any temptation cometh to draw your hearts
to give contentment to the flesh for a season ; as for instance, when
you are tempted to please your eye, your taste, your sensual desire, or
to wrong your souls, for wealth and honour ; remember these are not
eternal pleasures, riches, honours ; and shall I dare run the hazard of
wronging God or my soul for a little present satisfaction ? leave my
fatness and sweetness to rule over the trees ? What ! hazard eternal
things for temporal trifles ? (2.) When tempted by the bitterness
of the cross to relent in God's cause, say, as Basil's forty martyrs, that
were kept naked in the open air in a cold night, to be burned next
day : Sharp is the cold, but sweet is paradise ; troublesome is the
way, but pleasant is the end of the journey : let us endure a little
cold, and the patriarch's bosom will soon warm us. Stephen saw
heaven opened, and that fortified him against the showers of stones
from the people, Acts vii. 51. It is for such a season.
[5.] Beg the light of the Spirit. It is necessary for us both with
respect to things seen and unseen. (1.) Seen, that we may apprehend
the vanity of the creature : Ps. xe. 92, ' So teach us to number our
days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom ; ' Ps. xlix. 4, ' I will
incline mine ear to a parable ; I will open my dark saying upon the
harp.' David is describing the vanity of worldly prosperity. And
also to see things unseen : Eph. i. 17, 18, ' That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him : the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope
of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints:' Our wisdom natural is .carnal and sensual, James iii. 15.
Either for riches, pleasures, or honours : Prov. xxiii. 4, ' Labour not
to be rich ; cease from thine own wisdom.' Keason catereth for the
body, true wisdom is from above.
[6.] Do not only seek the light of the Spirit, but wait for his renew
ing grace, that you may make things unseen your felicity and portion :
John iii. 6, ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit.' Naturally there is in us a foolish
inordinate desire after the dignities, honours, and pleasures of the
world ; but we should earnestly desire the new birth : 1 Peter ii. 3,
' As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may
grow thereby ; ' 1 John v. 4, ' Whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world ; ' and 2 Peter i. 4, * Whereby are given unto us exceeding
288 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18,
great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature.' That we may have a deep sense of and respect to
the other world.
[7.] Think often and seriously what a value eternity puts upon
things small, much more upon things great in themselves.
(1.) That eternity puts a value upon things in themselves small,
whether good or evil : evil, as what a torment would an everlasting
toothache be ? Though the pain be not very great nor mortal, yet the
eternal length, and duration maketh it intolerable. So in things good,
if a man might have a cottage but for an hundred years, he would
prize it more than to have liberty to walk in a glorious palace for one
day ; so that things which are eternal do much more excel those things
which are temporal, though there be otherwise a difference between
the things themselves. As the toothache is not a mortal disease, but
every man would die presently rather than live under an everlasting
toothache. A cottage is not to be compared to a palace, yet the inherit
ance of a cottage is much better than the liberty of a walk in a palace
for an hour or a day. A small thing is greatened by eternity, much
more a greater. Well, then, since things unseen do so far exceed things
seen, and the one are temporal and the other eternal, why should man
be so fooli&h and perverse as to prefer the one above the other?
Whatever hurts is but a flea-biting ; whatever delights is but a May-
game. The good and evil of the world is not to be compared with
the foretaste of the good and evil of the world to come, horrors of con
science or joy in the Holy Ghost. Horrors of conscience : Prov. xviii.
14, ' The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity ;. but a wounded
spirit who can bear ? ' Joy in the Holy Ghost : 1 Peter i. 2, ' Whom
having not seen ye love ; in whom, though now you see him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' Horror
of conscience is a greater pain than any pain ; and joy in the Holy
Ghost is a greater joy than any joy. Now eternity cometh and addeth
a greater weight to it, as to the horrors of the wicked or the joys of
the blessed. If these horrors be so burdensome, what is it to lie under
them for evermore ? If we cannot sleep one whole night (as to a man
in a fever a night is an year, though he lie in a soft bed), how do we long
for day ! how tedious is it then to lie under eternal darkness, and to
despair of ever seeing day more ! so for the joys of the blessed ; if a
day in God's courts be better than a thousand elsewhere, what is a
month ? what is an year ? what are an hundred years ? what is six
hundred ? what a thousand ? what is eternity ? everything in the
other world, as it is great, so it is eternal ; there is an eternity in the
evil part of it. The bodies of men are eternal, their souls eternal, the
fire never goeth out, for the fuel never ceaseth ; the prison in which
they are kept is eternal, the torment is eternal, because the judge is
eternal, and his sentence shall never be reversed, Heb. x. 31, so the
joys, as they are unspeakable and glorious, so eternal. The crown of
glory is an incorruptible crown,.! Peter v. 4, the inheritance an incorrupt
ible' inheritance. The vision- ©f God is not by snatches, but everlasting,
the fruition of God is uninterrupted ; all is great, and all is eternal.
(2.) This must be seriously considered by us, and often and deeply.
If we did so, what helo should we. then have against temptations I
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 289
It would make us obey God's commandments more cheerfully, sub
due the desires of the flesh, and make us more ready to every good
work, to consider that eternity ensueth, that everlasting woe and weal
is in the case. Meat well chewed nourisheth the more, but being
swallowed whole, breedeth crudities, burdeneth the stomach, and
defileth the body ; so to hear of eternity, and swallow it without
rumination and due consideration, maketh these things lose their force,
so that they do not excite our diligence, nor break the force of temp
tations : 'Oh, that they were wise, and would consider their latter
end 1 ' Deut. xxix. ; ' And my people do not consider/ Isa. i. 3. It is
our carelessness and inconsideration that undoeth us. We read in
story (which also hath been repeated in a late instance), but originally
it is recorded of Agrippina and Nero, that when a prodigal prince had
given away a huge sum, they laid all the money in a heap before him,
that he might see and consider what he had given away ; to bring him
to retract, or in part to lessen the grant. So it is good for us to consider
what we lose in losing eternity, what we part with for these vile and
perishing things. Invisible things, if they are small, yet they are
eternal ; but they are great and eternal too ; but these other things are
small and temporal.
[8.] Consider how certain and sure these invisible things are which
lie in the other world. There wanteth nothing but this to strike the
temptation dead which ariseth from temporal things ; for since these
invisible things are greater and more durable, why should they not
prevail more with us ? The reason is, we see, feel, taste the one ; but
the other lie out of sight in an unknown world, and so we doubt of
them, or our persuasions about them are very weak. But to check
this disease, consider what help is offered to you — (1.) By the light of
nature, which showeth it may be ; (2.) The light of Christianity, which
showeth it shall be.
(1.) The light of nature will offer proof enough to make us more
serious than ever we have been ; for —
(1st.) If there be not a world to come, and a state of invisible happi
ness and unseen glory, why is it that such a conceit hath been rooted
in the minds of men of all nations and religions ? not only Greeks
and Komans, but barbarians and people least civilised. Herodotus
telleth us that the ancient Getes thought their souls perished not
when they died, but went to Tamolxis ; and Diodorus Siculus, of the
Egyptians, that their parents and friends went to some eternal habita
tion ; and the modern heathens, but newly discovered, hold the con
dition of men and beasts different ; that they subsist after life, and
have a being, is their firm persuasion ; and therefore are wont to
assign to the dead part of the goods which they possessed. And Acosta
telleth us that in Peru they are wont to kill some of their slaves to
attend the dead in the world to come. Thus in a manner all nations
have received this tradition from hand to hand, from their ancestors ;
and the nearer to the first original of mankind, the more clear and
pressing hath been the conceit hereof. Lapse of time, which decayeth
all things, hath not been able to deface it out of the minds of men, who
though they have been gradually depraved and degenerated, according
to the distance by which they have been removed from their first
VOL. XVIII. T
290 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
originals, yet they could never blot out the sense of an estate after
this life. An universal tradition is some argument, when there can
be no solid and indubitable reasons brought to convince it of falsity.
Now such is this, spread throughout the universe, and with extreme
forwardness received of all nations, and hath borne up against all the
encounters of time, and constantly maintained itself in the midst of so
many revolutions of human affairs, by which many other things were lost.
(2<i) All men have believed that there is a God, and very few-
doubted but that he is a re warder of virtue and punisher of vice.
Now neither the one nor the other is fully accomplished in this world,
even in the judgment of those who have no great knowledge of the
nature of sin, nor what punishment is competent thereunto. There
fore there must be some state after this life, in which this retributive
justice of punishing the bad and rewarding the good shall be mani
fested ; for here providence seemeth to be darkened, and the world is
offended with the calamities of the good and prosperity of the wicked :
1 Cor. xv. 19, ' If in this life only we have hope in Christ Jesus, we
.are of all men most miserable.'
(3d.) If there be an end of man when he dieth, why is man afraid
of torments after death? Heb. ii. 15, 'Deliver them who, through
fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.' Men fear
death, not as a natural evil, as it terminateth our present comforts,
but as a penal evil, as it is an -entrance to unknown sorrows : 1 Cor.
xv. 56, ' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.'
What is the reason of these stings of conscience, which are never so
sensible and quick as when they approach near death, or behold them
selves in some imminent danger ? What are these but presaging fears,
which anticipate miseries after this life ? If there were an utter end
of men, these troubles should in reason then vanish ; but this is the
time when these alarms are redoubled and those tempests increase
their violence.
(2.) The light of Christianity doth much more discover it. That
is properly a doctrine of things unseen ; that telleth us of a prison
where are the spirits of wicked men, 1 Peter iii. 19 ; of a palace or
mansions in our Father's house, where are the spirits of just men
made perfect, Heb. xii. 23. On the one hand it telleth us of a worm
that never dieth, of a fire that shall never be quenched, Mark ix. 44 ;
on the other side, of joys that are at the right hand of God for ever
more, Ps. xvi. 11 ; that Christ died to free us from the wrath to come,
1 Thes. i. -10, and purchased heaven for us, 1 Thes. v. 10, and is
gone to heaven to seize upon it in our name, John xiv. 2, 3, having
first left a sure promise of eternal life to all that believe in him,
1 John ii. 25; which promise was outwardly confirmed by divers
miracles accompanying them that went abroad to make this offer in
his name, Heb. ii. 3, 4. Inwardly in the hearts of his people, by
giving them the first-fruits of this everlasting estate in their union
with himself, CoL i. 27, and the joys of his Spirit, which are therefore
said to be full of glory, 1 Peter i.,8. These are truths interweaved
throughout the whole body of Christianity. Now discourse but with
yourselves— (1.) Partly concerning the thing itself ; (2.) Partly con
cerning the certainty of your hope.
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 291
(1st.) Concerning the certainty of the thing itself. Is the whole
scripture false, the gospel a fable? Are all the oracles of the prophets,
the 'doctrine of Christ, his miracles, resurrection, ascension, but a
dream ? Were they all deceived that followed Christ upon these
hopes, that took such pains in subduing the flesh, and hazarding their
interests freely upon the hopes of another world ? Are the wisest
sort of men the world ever saw such fools? all the ordinances of
Christ a customary superstition? Is grace a fancy, the joys of the
Spirit delusions or fantastical impressions ? these rejoicings and fore
tastes of the children of God, a mere deceit and imposture ? Surely
it cannot be that all this solemnity should be used to establish a vain
conceit.
(2d) Excite and work up your own faith and hope. Is there not
a state of blessedness reserved for me in the heavens ? invisible and
glorious things, which I am bound to seek after ? Thou hast not
possession, but thou hast the grant, the deed of gift sealed ; thou hast
the conveyance to show ; God's own word and promise to assure thee.
Yea, it is not nudum pactum. God hath given thee the earnest of a
greater sum : 2 Cor. i. 22, ' Who hath also sealed us, and given the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.' What should I do, then, but
look for it, long for it, and earnestly seek after it ?
Use 2. Is for reproof —
1. To the incredulous and unbelieving, to whom all invisible things
seem a fancy. Scoffing atheists, they will not believe there is an
heaven or an hell till they see them. In the face of the visible church
there may be such, and in the latter times there shall be many such,
2 Peter iii. 4 ; but in hell there are none such, because then matters
of faith are matters of feeling, and to their bitter cost they find the
truth of what they doubted of. To these I shall say, God hath always
tried his people, and distinguished them from others, by respect to
things not seen : Heb. xi. 7, ' By faith Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the
saving of his house ; by the which he condemned the world, and
became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.' By this he con
demned the world, by his costly industry and care to frame an ark ;
but whilst he provided for his safety, they perished in their sins.
Must everything be seen before we fear it or hope for it? Why
then do men provide for time to come so long beforehand? Why
for old age in youth ? why for winter in summer ? As the industry
of the ant is recommended for our imitation, Prov. vi. 6-8, ' Go to the
ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise, which, having no
guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and
gathereth her food in the harvest.' It is uncertain we shall live to
old age or see another winter, but it is certain we shall live for ever in
heaven or hell. Keason and conscience and scripture assureth us of
that. Atheists think the people of God are a sort of credulous fools,
as Celsus objected that faith and credulity brought in error. None
so credulous as the atheists, who hearken to every foolish fancy, and
cavil against the light of the universal tradition of mankind and the
evidence of scripture, which God hath so often owned and confirmed.
2. The inconsiderate and brutish part of mankind, who come into
292 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
the world they know not why, and then go out of the world they know
not whither ; these live in the world as in an house of smoke ; as they
see nothing out of it, so scarce see the things they converse with
in it. These mistake their banishment for their country, the sea for
their haven, and themselves for beasts instead of men Oh 1 let
these consider —
[1.] Why they came into the world. Not to eat, and drink, and
sleep, and sport. We were made for eternal things, not for temporal.
Not for the world, nor for ourselves, nor for anything less than God,
to glorify him and enjoy him ; and all other things to serve as helps
to heaven. Surely we were not made in vain, nor by chance brought
forth into light. The least things have their appointed ends; and
surely man, that hath an immortal spirit, was never made for a mortal
happiness. Oh! then, that men should be so senseless as never to
regard whether there be an eternity, yea or no; that they should
suffer the beast to ride the man, should live merely to live, use their
bodies only as a strainer or a channel for meat and drink to pass
through ; that they should only employ their souls about trifles and
carnal satisfactions : John xviii. 37, ' To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the
truth.' All is for some 6fcd.
[2.] The next thing to be considered is, what will be their state
when they go out of the world. We daily draw near to our long
home, but we little think of it till we come to our journey's end, fear
not the pit till we are plunged into it, prize not our time till it be
lost and gone : Eccles. ix. 12, ' Man knoweth not his time ; as the
fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught
in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it
falleth suddenly upon them.' Death and calamity befalleth a man
when he little dreameth of it, as the fish and the bird* go with much
hope and promise of good to themselves to the bait and the snare.
Hence the beasts are more excusable than we ; they cannot foresee the
end, but are guided by instinct and appetite to present things that are
good for them. Oh, that men are entering upon eternity, and yet
never think of it ! Oh, excite yourselves ; consider what will become
of you when you die. You die but once, and there is no mending of
your errors when you awake in flames. A merchant may lose in one
ship, but the next venture may repair him, and make him amends
again; an orator may lose fame and reputation in one speech and
action, and the next may restore it, and recover it again with advan
tage ; but if a man die ill, the loss is irrevocable ; but if well, the gain
is immortal : therefore surely we should prepare more for an entrance
upon our eternal estate.
3. To negligent and sensual worldlings, who wholly busy themselves
about the matters of this life, and are hurried hither and thither : Ps.
xxxix. 6, ' Surely every man walketh in a vain show ; they are dis
quieted in vain.' Our life is but a picture, image, shadow, or dream of
life ; it vanisheth in a trice. All must be suddenly parted with here,
all the riches and honours ; and yet we cark and labour and turmoil to
get these transitory things, as if they would continue with us to all
eternity, and had some durable satisfaction in them. Present pleasures
SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 293
and profits cloud our minds, and till we can get this veil drawn aside,
this cloud scattered, we do not discern our mistake. Oh, consider
who would redeem the short pleasure of a dream with the torment of
many days 1 Our days upon earth are as a shadow, and yet this shadow
do we cleave to instead of the substance, and though earthly things be
short in their continuance, and uncomfortable in their end, yet these
take up our life, and love, and care, and thoughts. Just as those that
want children take pleasure in keeping little dogs and cats, so do
they embrace the shadow for the substance, vainglory for eternal glory,
a little pelf for the true riches, a little paltry business for the great
work and end of our lives ; and when all is done, it is but a spider's
web, Job viii. 14. The trust of the carnal man shall be but as the
spider's web. As the spider out of his own bowels weaveth a web to
catch flies, and frameth it with a great deal of art, but it is gone with
the turn of the besom, so is the fruit of all their plots, and cares, and
labours, and running up arid down, when in the meantime we are
unmindful of eternity. Oh, when will these distracting worldlings find
a time for God and everlasting happiness ? Childhood is not serious
enough, youth must take their pleasure, manly age is too full of business,
and old age is too feeble.
4. It reproveth God's children, who are too lazy, and have not that
life and seriousness in a spiritual business which they have in an
earthly. If eternity be your aim, why are you so dead and dull in a
course of holiness ? The apostle biddeth Timothy to follow after holi
ness : ' To fight the good fight, to lay hold on eternal life,' 1 Tim. vi.
12 ; implying if the one were his aim, he would do the other. If we
press towards the mark, why are we so frozen and cold in our zeal for
God, so inclinable to every motion of sin, so easily overcome by temp
tations ? Alas ! making eternal things our scope is but a notion, unless
we provide forthwith with greater care, exactness, and diligence.
There should be a suitableness and proportion between the exactness
of our conversation and the greatness of our hopes: 1 Thes. ii. 12,
' Walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and
glory.' That worthiness is the worthiness of condignity, congruity,
and condecency. But alas ! do we labour as for eternity ? so follow
after righteousness, so fight the good fight of faith, so despise the world,
deny ourselves, run through all straits, triumph over all difficulties,
mortify and subdue our own carpal inclinations? Alas! we are so
bold in sinning, so cold in holy things, and do so little exercise ourselves
unto godliness, as if we had no such great matters in view and chase ;
and carry it so as if our hopes were only in this world, and not as if
the eternal God had promised these eternal things to us. Surely if
our belief of them were stronger we should be other persons than we
are, in all holy conversation and godliness, 2 Peter iii. 11.
5. The sottish despairing carnal person. As there is a raging
despair, so a sottish despair : Jer. xviii. 12, ' And they said, There is
no hope, but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one
do the imagination of his evil heart ; ' and Jer. ii. 25, ' Thou saidst
there is no hope ; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will
go/ Give over all endeavours. If I be saved, I shall be saved ; if
damned, who can help it ? I will bear it as well as I can. Bear it !
294 SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18.
What wilt thou bear ? What ! endure the loss of heaven ? endure
the wrath of almighty God ? Poor wretch ! thou knowest not what
eternity meaneth. For the loss, thou wilt apprehend it to be another
thing when thy soul cometh to see but a glimpse of what heaven is,
and shall see others sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and thyself shut out. They are admitted, and thou art excluded ; this
will cause weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for evermore,
Mat. viii. 12. If Kachel could not endure the loss of her children, nor
Jacob the supposed loss of Joseph, when all his sons and daughters
rose up to comfort him, ' I will go to the grave to my son mourning,'
Gen. xxxvii. 35 ; if Achitophel could not endure the rejectment of his
counsel, and Haman could not endure to be slighted by Mordecai, and
many cannot endure the loss of a beloved child ; how wilt thou endure
the loss of eternity ? The disciples wept bitterly when Paul said, 'Ye
shall see my face no more,' Acts xxviii. 38. What will you do when
God shall say, See my face no more ? Thou carest not for the fruition
of God now, because thou believest not the reality of this blessedness,
hast other comforts and affairs to divert thee ; but when thou shalt be
set apart from all thy comforts, and hast nothing to divert thee, thou
shalt know what eternal life is.
For the other : how canst thou endure the wrath of God, thou that
canst not endure to be scorched a day or two in feverish flames, thou
that canst not endure the acute pains of stone or gout, when God
armeth the humours of thine own body against thee ? that canst not
endure the scalding of a little gunpowder casually blown up, the pain
of a broken arm or leg ; how wilt thou endure when God himself shall
fall upon thee ? God himself puts the question, Ezek. xxii. 14. In
the other world, God is all in all.
SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25,
Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things,
and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented. — LUKE xvi. 25.
THESE words are part of a parable, the contrivance of which is so
exactly framed according to the reality and truth which is represented,
that it hath been disputed whether it be a parable or an history.
The two persons chiefly concerned in this parable are the rich glutton
and Lazarus the beggar. The rich man is not represented under any
proper name, as the beggar is ; partly to avoid offence, and partly to
show that the wicked are of no name, account, or reckoning with God :
2 Tim. ii. 19, ' The Lord knoweth them that are his ; ' John x. 3,
' He calleth his own sheep by name.' A rich man of this world you
cannot miss of his name in the subsidy book, but in the book of life the
beggar hath a name when the rich hath not. The rich glutton is
described by the course of his life, which was pleasant and luxurious ;
he was clad with the best, and fared of the best ; he was ' clothed with
purple and fine linen ; ' there is his winter and summer garment ; and
' fared sumptuously every day,' ver. 19. With him every day was a
festival. On the other side, the beggar is described by his piety,
intimated by his name, Lazarus, the Lord was his help ; by his afflic
tions ; of want, for he was a beggar, lying at the rich man's door ; of
sickness, full of sores ; by his modesty, he desired only the crumbs
which fell from the rich man's table, Luke xvi. 21. In time both died,
for rich and poor must both die : Job iii. 19, ' The small and the great
are there.' It is said of the poor man that he ' died and was carried
by the angels into Abraham's bosom ; ' but of the rich, he ' died and
was buried,' ver. 22. Nothing is said of the burial of the poor man ;
the other had a pompous funeral, according to the custom of the
world ; but the carcase of the poor man was little regarded, it may be
cast to the dunghill. However in the state of their souls there was
great difference. Though the body of the one was conducted to the grave
in state, yet his soul was in wof ul plight ; for ' he died and was buried,
and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments,' ver. 23. But for
the other, his body was neglected, but his soul was of precious account
with God, for it was 'carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom,' ver.
22. The rich man is too late, sensible of his misery and the happiness
of the despised beggar : ' And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in
torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom,' ver.
296 SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25.
23. He had hoped for better things ; for this rich man was not an infidel,
but one of Abraham's children, as the beggar also was ; but he was of
Abraham's children according to the flesh, but not according to the
spirit : Mat. iii. 9, ' Think not to say within yourselves, We have
Abraham to our father.' Carnal confidences in external prerogatives
will at length wofully deceive us. But what doth he beg of Abraham ?
That Lazarus may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue,
ver. 24. Desideravit guttam, qui non dedit micam — He that would
not give a crumb now desireth a drop. God will be even with sinners,
and retaliate their oppressions and uncharitableness into their bosoms.
In the text you have part of Abraham's answer : ' But Abraham said,
Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things,
and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but now he is comforted, and thou
art tormented.'
In the words is set forth the different estate of the rich man and the
beggar in this life and in the world to come.
1. In this life, ' Remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy
good things, and Lazarus evil things/
2. In the world to come, where you see how perfectly the tables are
turned : ' Now he is comforted, and thou art tormented,'
1. In this life. On the rich man's side —
[1.] There is his prosperity and worldly happiness ; he had received
' Good things.'
[2.] The suitableness of his heart to this kind of happiness, or his
well-pleasedness with it : 'Thy good things.' His, not only by posses
sion, but by estimation and choice : Ps. iv. 7, ' Thou hast put gladness
in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine
increased.' They place their happiness in them.
So, on the other side, ' Lazarus evil things ; ' as the rich man had
abundance of ease, pleasure, and prosperity, so Lazarus had his portion
of afflictions.
2. In the world to come. Mark —
[1.] The time; presently upon death, now. The sleep of the soul
is a vain figment.
[2.] The different recompenses ; in the words, ' comforted ' and ' tor
mented.'
[3.] The order in both ; the beggar had first temporal evils, and
then eternal good things ; but the rich man had first temporal good
things, and then eternal evil things ; as many that do well here in
this world fare full ill in the world to come ; the one hath his bliss,
and the other his torment, and both without any allay and mixture.
Doct. That it is the greatest misery that can light upon men to be
condemned to worldly happiness.
The rich man's disposition is but intimated, but his condition is
expressed as the ground of his misery, that in his lifetime he had
received his good things. Gregory professed that he could never read
this scripture without trembling, as being afraid to have his portion in
this world, or his happiness here. And what is here represented in
the scheme and draught of a parable is elsewhere positively asserted in
plainer scriptures ; as Luke vi. 24, ' Woe unto you that are rich, for ye
have received your consolation.' You have all that you can look for ;
SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25. 297
you shall not have a double heaven, here and hereafter : Jer. xvii. 13,
'They that depart from me shall be written in the earth;' Luke
xii. 20, ' Thou fool ! this night thy soul shall be required of thee,
and then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? '
Ps. xvii. 14, ' From men which are thy hand, 0 Lord, from men of
the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou
fillest with thy hid treasure ; they are full of children, and leave the
rest of their substance to their babes.' Not as if all that live prosper
ously here in this world shall be eternally miserable ; or, on the contrary,
that all that live miserably here shall be comforted hereafter. No ; it
is not the condition, but the disposition which is regarded. For —
1. Eiches are in themselves God's blessings : Prov. x. 22, ' The
blessing of the Lord maketh rich ; ' and are promised to his people :
Ps. cxii. 3, ' Wealth and riches shall be in his house ; ' and accord
ingly bestowed upon some of them, as upon Abraham : Gen. xxiv. 35,
' The Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great.'
So was Job, chap. i. 3 ; he was the greatest of all the men in the
East. So David, Solomon, Lazarus of Bethany, Joseph of Arimathea,
and others. By these instances God showeth that he can and will
give wealth to his people, if it were for their good. Some godly men
may be rich, and wicked men calamitous ; the Lord giveth to both a
taste of their future condition. Godliness hath the promises of this
life, and ungodliness forfeiteth them.
2. It is not the having, but the abuse. The apostle speaketh, 2
Peter i. 4, of ' the corruption that is in the world through lust,' or our
own unmortified corruptions ; the poison is not in the flower, but the
spider. That carnal disposition that is in us maketh us drown our
mind, our time, and our affections in the world, and the cares and
pleasures thereof, and to be ensnared thereby, and hindered from looking
after heavenly happiness. To blame riches simply is to blame him
that made them, and distributeth them according to his will, as if he
did bait his hook with seeming blessings, and did set golden snares to
entangle the souls of men. The good things of this world are profitable
to them that make a good use of them, if we use wealth well, or want
it patiently. It is no matter what part we act in the world, so we act
it well. As in a choir of voices, some sing the bass, some the treble ;
it is no discommendation to sing either part, so we sing it well ; so
some are poor, some are rich. If we carry a full cup without spilling,
we may honour God by being rich ; if we patiently bear the burden
imposed upon us, we may honour God with a meek and humble poverty.
Dormit pauper Lazarus in sinu Abrahami divitis. Poor Lazarus slept
in rich Abraham's bosom. The rich man was not condemned because
he had wealth, and ease, and prosperity, but that he was puffed up
with these things. He wholly gave up himself to pride and luxury,
neglecting piety and charity ; but Lazarus believed God's promises,
bore the burden imposed upon him patiently, and by the obedience of
faith wholly submitted himself to God's will.
3. However, a full condition is apt to be a snare, and must be
watched with the greater caution. That context is very notable, Mark
x. 23-27, ' And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples,
How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God !
298 SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25.
And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered
again, and saith unto htem, Children, how hard is it for them that
trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ! It is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure,
saying among themselves, Who then can be saved ? And Jesus look
ing upon them, saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God ; for
with God all things are possible.' That discourse between Christ and
his disciples showeth us three things — (1.) That it is impossible to
trust in riches and enter into the kingdom of God ; (2.) That it is
impossible for man to have them and not to trust in them; (3.) And
that the special assistance of the divine grace can only cure this evil.
It is very hard to enjoy ease, and idleness, and pleasures here, and to
be exercised with no affliction, and yet keep right with God : Prov.
i. 32, ' The prosperity of fools shall destroy them.' Men being drunk
with prosperity are forgetful of their duty. A rank soil is apt to breed
many weeds. And on the other side, afflictions are an help to the
godly, to make them profit in piety.
But having obviated this difficulty, I shall show three things —
1. That God useth to give many temporal good things to carnal
men.
2. That those carnal men whose hearts are taken up with these
good things as their only and chief happiness, while they continue so,
can look for no more at God's hand, but are condemned to worldly
felicity.
3. That their misery is great before death, at death, and after death.
I. God useth to give many temporal good things to carnal men, for
several reasons —
1. Because he will be behindhand with none of his creatures, but all
that are made by him shall know him to be a good God, and have
some taste of his bounty. It is said, Ps. cxlv. 9, ' The Lord is good
to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.' He is good to
all creatures, much more to all men, the wicked not excepted ; though
some men are but as a wiser sort of beasts, as they cater more for the
flesh, and wholly value their happiness by the body and the interests
of the bodily life. They shall not want invitations to lead them to God ;
though they love their bodies above their souls, yet they shall not want
arguments to love God, who giveth them food and gladness, and fruitful
seasons, and plentiful estates, and many of these common mercies, which
point to their author and discover their end : Acts xiv. 17, ' Nevertheless
he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us
rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and
gladness.' These mercies, where they are bestowed, argue not a good
people, but a good God.
2. That he may reward some good in them, and mortify the
remaining evil in his people by afflictions. None shall be a loser by
God ; they that cannot tarry for the heavenly reward shall have a tem
poral one, such as they prize and affect : Mat. vi. 2, ' Therefore when thou
doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites
do, in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of
men : verily I say unto you, they have their reward.' So for prayer,
SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25. 299
ver. 5, and for fasting, ver. 16, aTre^ovcrt TOV pia-dbv avr&v. The word
ttTre^ouoY, they have, signifieth an acquittance or discharge ; they
acquit God of other things ; they have a reward suitable to their affec
tions and their work; their affections are altogether upon temporal
things. The spirit of an heir and the spirit of an hired servant differ.
An heir can patiently tarry till the inheritance falleth, but an hired
servant must have wages from day to day, or from quarter to quarter.
So worldly men must have something in hand ; they have not a lively
hope of blessedness to come, and cannot tarry for the eternal recom
pense. So, suitable to the work, which is external, a mere outside duty ;
so is their reward proportionable. Nebuchadnezzar did God some ser
vice, and God had his reward for him, enlargement of greatness and
empire : Jer. xxvii. 6, 'And now have I given all these lands into the
hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant.' So Ezek.
xxix. 18-20, ' The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Bayblon caused his army to serve a great
service against Tyrus : every head was made bald, and every shoulder
was peeled ' (by carrying baskets of earth to fill up the channel between
it and the mainland), ' yet he had no wages, nor his army for Tyrus,
for the service which he had served against it. Therefore thus saith
the Lord God, Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchad
nezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take her multitude, and take her
spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army. I have
given him the land of Egypt for his labour, wherewith he served
against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord.' The Lord
thought of rewarding this ambitious man for his hard labours and
toils : Mai. i. 10, ' Who is there among you that would shut the doors
for nought? neither do ye kindle fire upon mine altar for nought.'
God's service is good service, even to those who do but outwardly and
grudgingly perform it. Levites and porters had their allowance ; and
superficial work meeteth with an external reward.
3. To show that these are not the chief good things by which his
special love is manifested unto us. God will not now govern the world
by sense, but by faith ; and therefore prosperity and adversity of them
selves do not clear up a man's estate before God, and are not perfect
demonstrations of his love and hatred, nor can a man judge of his
acceptance with God by his outward condition, nor should we quarrel
with the wicked about their outward condition, which are their
portion, not ours : Eccles. ix. 1, 2, 'No man knoweth either love or
hatred by all that is before them : all things come alike to all ;
there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked.' For these
things are promiscuously dispensed without any difference, evil things to
good men, and good things to evil men. Josiah died in battle as well
as Ahab. Is Abraham rich ? so is Nabal. Is Solomon wise ? so is
Achitophel. Is Joseph honoured by Pharaoh ? so is Doeg by Saul.
Hath Demetrius a good report of all men ? 3 John v. 12 ; so had some
false teachers, that complied with men's lusts and humours: Luke vi.
26, ' Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you.' Had Caleb
health and strength ? Josh. xiv. 11 ; so have wicked ones : Ps. Ixxiii. 4,
' There are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm.' Hath
Moses beauty ? so hath Absalom, 2 Sam. xiv. 20. Learning and
300 SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25.
wisdom is given to the Egyptians as well as to Moses, Acts vii. 22, and
Daniel, chap. i. 17. Ishmael had long life, Gen. xxv. 17, as well as
Isaac, Gen. xxxv. 29. Is greatness and powerful reign given to David ?
so to infidels. So that nothing hence can be concluded. To bring us
to look after more distinguishing mercies, these are given to others as
well as to his children.
II. Who are those carnal men to whom God will give no more than
carnal felicity ? In the general, those that choose these things for their
portion. Men have according to their choice : ' THY GOOD THINGS : '
choose, and have. It absolutely holdeth good in spiritual things : Luke
x. 42, ' Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away
from her.' But it is not always so in carnal things, though many times
it is. Here a man may choose, and not have ; they that choose worldly
greatness, and the wealth and credit of the world, cannot always have
their choice. God denieth it to some in mercy, that they may look
higher ; but sometimes he giveth it to others in wrath. God giveth
them their heart's desire in judgment. These are their good things,
the only things suitable to their hearts ; the world is all they care for,
let God keep his heaven, and his Spirit to himself. It is good to observe
what our heart calleth ours ; as Nabal : 1 Sam. xxv. 11, ' Shall I take
my bread, and my water, and my flesh which I have killed for my
shearers ? ' and Laban to Jacob : Gen. xxxi. 43, ' These daughters are
my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle
are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine.' A carnal man with a
lively gust and relish calleth these things his things ; a godly man
owneth them as coming from God, and referreth them to him : 1 Chron.
xxix. 14, 'All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given
thee.' Well, then, how just is God in giving every man his good
things, and in letting them take their own choice, and heaping worldly
things upon them who have placed their felicity in them !
But how shall we know that men count these things their good things,
and have chosen them for their portion ?
1. Our choice is known by our use. They that abuse these things
to the satisfaction of their own lusts, and with too free a license let loose
their hearts to worldly things, these count them their good things.
They would have their heaven here and their happiness here, as this
rich man altogether lived voluptuously, and fared deliriously every day.
The world is to be used sparingly : 1 Cor. vii. 29-31, ' But this I say,
brethren, the time is short ; it remaineth, that both they that have
wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though
they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not;
and they that buy, as though they possessed not ; and they that use
this world, as not abusing it : for the fashion of this world passeth
away.' We stay here but a while : 1 Peter ii. 11, ' Dearly beloved, I
beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts ; '
James v. 5, ' Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth.' The place of
our exile and separation from God. If we converse not with weaned-
ness and sobriety (which is necessary for the heirs of promise, who
expect their heaven and happiness elsewhere), it is a plain argument
we would make the best of the present world, and would please and
gratify the flesh, as if all the happiness of the world to come were but
SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25. 301
a fancy. We are upon a journey homeward, and we must abstain from
everything which may hinder us in it. The delights of the way over-
freely used, show we have no mind to get home ; as the flesh-pots of
Egypt stuck in the Israelites' minds, and diverted them from Canaan,
and they were ready to run back at every turn. Well, now, those that
abuse the good things of this life are cut off from better : Luke xvi.
11, 'If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,
who shall commit to your trust the true riches ? '
2. Our choice is known by the end of our lives. This rich man
lived to himself, and not unto G-od ; satisfying his lusts, and not mind
ing his duty. The good things given him by God were spent upon
himself, without any regard to God's glory and the good of others. If
we have these things only for ourselves, we place our felicity in them :
Luke xii. 21, 'So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not
rich towards God ; ' that is, that maketh no other use of his increase and
plenty but only to possess it, or to provide for himself by it, never
thinking of employing that he hath to spare for the service of God or
the relief of the destitute. The apostle giveth it in charge to them
that be rich in this world : 1 Tim. v. 18, ' That they do good, that they
be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.'
Our happiness is to be reckoned by the use and improvement of an
estate, rather than by the enjoyment of it ; if so, then * we may lay
hold on eternal life,' ver. 19. For the comfort of the use continueth
with us in the other world ; our works follow us, but our wealth doth
not. And therefore, if we love the world, and seek the world for its
own sake, and not as a means to higher things, we take up with present
things. In all our enjoyments, our end should be to glorify God and
be useful to others. A Christian should still mind eternal ends ; and
therefore, to mind the enriching of ourselves and ours, and not to do
God service, implieth a loving of the world for its own sake, whereas
all should be improved for God ; we must use them as his good things,
rather than our own.
3. When all their bustle and their stir is about their good things
here : Ps. cxxvii. 2, ' They rise early, and sit up late, and eat the bread
of sorrows ; ' and all to get a larger supply of the comforts of the
worldly life ; but heavenly things are neglected, or sought after in an
overly and careless manner. Our main care should be about other
things : Mat. vi. 33, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his right
eousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.'
4. When thy heart is satisfied with these things, not looking nor
longing for an higher happiness : Luke xii. 19, ' Soul, thou hast much
goods laid up for many years : take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.'
Though we be not greedy to get more, yet we take too much com
placency in what we have already. Worldliness venteth itself by greedy
desires and carnal delight ; chiefly by the latter. Delight, or a well-
pleasedness of mind, is the supreme act of love ; it belongeth to God as
the chief good. The world is not our felicity, but an appendage to our
felicity, an overplus to the great blessings of the covenant ; and there
fore not first to be sought, nor first delighted in. Now to be satisfied,
or sit down contented with honours, riches, and pleasures without God,
or in the want of better things, is a great evil The scripture dis-
302 SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25.
suadeth from this : Ps. Ixii. 10, ' If riches increase, set not your hearts
upon them.' Let not your hearts be set on them so as to seek no
farther : Mark x. 24, ' How hard is it for them that trust in riches to
enter into the kingdom of God/ Trust is quies animi, the repose of
the soul in the midst of soul dangers. The scripture telleth us of God's
children, how much more they delight in God than in other things : Ps.
iv. 6,7,' There be many that say, Who will show us any good ? Lord,
lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put
gladness into my heart, more than in the time when their corn and
their wine increased ; ' and Ps. cxix. 14, ' I have rejoiced in the way of
thy testimonies as much as in all riches ; ' ver. 72, ' The law of thy
mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.' They are
still longing and looking out for an higher happiness, professing they
will not be put off with these things, but they desire pardon and grace,
that they may taste the incomparable delights of being in the number
of God's favourites : Ps. cvi. 4-7, ' Eemember me, 0 Lord, with the
favour that thou bearest unto thy people ; 0 visit me with thy salva
tion, that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the
gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance ; ' Ps.
cxix. 132, ' Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou
usest to do unto those that love thy name.'
5. Our good things are known by our unwillingness to part with
them. Many profess they would not get the world with the loss of
heaven, but that is not so close and present a trial; but are 'you con
tent to lose the world, so you may have heaven at last ? The trial
will rather lie here, for here it pincheth the sorest ; if you can sell all
for the pearl of price, Mat. xiii. 44 ; if you can ' take joyfully the
spoiling of your goods,' Heb. x. 34 ; if you faint not, but bear up with
hope and patience under all pressures and afflictions : 2 Cor. iv. 16-18,
' For this cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet
the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory ; while we look not at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are
temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' You can be
contented and ' choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,' Heb. xi. 25. God puts
us sensibly to the trial, which are our good things, the recompense of
reward, or our present interests ?
III. The misery is great before death, at death, and after death.
1. Before death, upon a twofold account —
[1.] Because of the uncertainty of their happiness : Prov. xxiii. 5,
' Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not ? for riches certainly
make themselves wings, they flee away as an eagle towards heaven/
They may be gone or we may be gone : Luke xii. 20, ' Thou fool ! this
night thy soul shall be required of thee/ They are called ' uncertain
riches,' 1 Tim. vi. 17. A man can never dwell securely in an house
built upon the ice ; and he that hath not made sure of a better portion
than the world can yield to him, he is upon the brink of hell and ever
lasting destruction. In short, a broken cistern will soon fail, and
deceive those that look for refreshment in it Death and the grave
SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25. 303
will soon put an end to all their happiness, if it should continue with
them so long. They are posting apace to their eternal misery, and one
moment puts an end to all their joy for ever.
[2.] Because prosperity is a plague and a snare to a wicked man ;
and the greater his prosperity is, his snare is the greater : Ps. Ixix. 22,
' Let their table become a snare before them ; and that which should
have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.' When God sufiereth
men's corrupt affections and suitable temptations and objects to meet,
it is a snare to them ; as Judas, that was a thief, had the bag, John
xii. 6. The carnal heart is the more entangled and besotted the less
they are restrained from the desire of their hearts. As the sea turneth
all things that fall or flow into it into salt water, so do they make all
their mercies an occasion unto the flesh ; so that in the very height of
their prosperity they are but miserable, as sin is the worst misery of
all. It is worse to be Nebuchadnezzar among the beasts, than to be
Daniel in the lions' den ; the one was the fruit of his own madness, the
other of the violence of others. Elijah was poor, and Ahab was rich ;
who was the more miserable man ? So Paul, that holy man, was in
prison, and Nero at the same time emperor of the world ; who was the
happier man think you ? and in whose case would you be, of Nero the
emperor, or Paul the prisoner ? Christ, that gave his Spirit to the
rest of the apostles, gave the bag to Judas. Riches and the bag are
not in such esteem with Christ, but that the basest of his followers
may have them in keeping and under their power. Now whose lot
would you choose, that of Judas or of the rest of the apostles ? Nay,
Jesus Christ himself, that had the Spirit without measure, chose a
poor estate. He that made a fish pay him tribute could as well have
made men do so ; he that multiplied the five loaves could have in
creased his stock at pleasure ; he that built the world could have
built himself stately palaces ; but ' when he was rich, he became poor
for our sakes,' 2 Cor. viii. 9, that he might sanctify holy poverty in his
own person, and honour it by his own example, and teach us that sin
is misery, but grace is happiness and preferment, whatever our external
condition be. And therefore he usually cuts his own people short,
that he may prevent their snares and impediments, when wicked men
live in plenty ; but certainly the rich wicked man is in a worse con
dition than the godly man who is kept low and bare ; as a child may
be strictly dieted for his health, while the servants are left to a freer
and larger allowance. More particularly —
(1.) Riches are apt to breed atheism and contempt of God.
(2.) They are not so broken-hearted as others, to see their need of
Christ.
(3.) If they take to the serious profession of religion, they cannot
hold it.
(4.) It makes men apt to take up their rest here.
(5.) They are apt to wax proud, and scornful, and impatient of
reproof. «
(6.) They grow wanton and sensual.
(7.) The more rich they are, the more they are wedded to a worldly
prosecution. [See Sermon on Mark x. 23].
2. At death. The approach of it openeth our eyes, and maketh our
304 SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25. «
vain conceits vanish. Our imaginary happiness is soon at an end, and
as we are entering into the other world, our mirth beginneth to be
marred ; and though formerly we only thought these to be the good
things, and desired these things, and delighted in these things, and
placed all our confidence in these things, yet we now see they cannot
stead us in our extremity. All our worldly advantages will afford us
no solid hope, when death cometh upon us : Job xxvii. 8, ' What is the
hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away
his soul ? ' If the carnal designs of wicked men succeed, and God
answers them according to the idol of their hearts, whatever presump
tuous dreams they had before, approaching death is the great touchstone
of men's hopes. He is not really willing to die, but God taketh away
his soul by force : Luke xii. 20, ' This night thy soul shall be required
of thee ; ' Jer. xvii. 11, ' He that getteth riches, and not by right, shall
leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool ; '
that is, he shall appear to be so in the judgment of his own heart. Well,
then, if you choose wealth, ease, pleasure, credit, for your portion and
happiness, you are not sure to get it ; but if you do get it, you are sure
to leave it. All that the world can afford you shall be taken from you ;
you must go naked out of the world, as you came naked into it. The
world will cast you off in your extremity, and the despairing soul must
bid a sad farewell to all the comforts you doated upon, and laboured
for, and delighted in. All your cup of pleasures is now drunk up, and
there is no more left. Honour, and company, and sports, and pomps
are all gone, and you must fall into the hands of an unreconciled God,
to answer for the abuse of these things.
3. After death, then the misery will appear indeed. If you have
gotten so much hardness of heart that you did not apprehend God's
anger against you, nor see any hazard upon the back of death, yet then
you enter into your eternal misery, and one moment puts an end to all
your joy for ever. When the saints, who having chosen God for their
portion, are comforted, you are tormented. Their condition may be sad
here in the world, but yours is sad for ever. Three things torment the
wicked, and they are all in this parable —
[1.] There is memoria prceteritorum, the remembrance of our former
good estate in the world, and the ill use we made of it, ' Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things.' Where are now
his fine garments, stately houses, and sweet odour of his fragrant oint
ments, his lustful meats, and dainty, rich, and sprightly wines, and
artificial sauces, with all the costlyaccomrnodations of his pomp and
pleasure ? The things are gone, but the remembrance of them is a sting
to his soul for ever.
[2.] There is sensus prcesentium, a sense of his present misery :
ver. 25, ' I am tormented in this flame.' There is a bitter sense
of the wrath of God, and nothing to allay it, or divert the mind
from it.
[3.] There is metus futurorum, a fear of what is to come : ver. 26,
' Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.' They are in termino,
in their final state, and there must abide ; there is no passing from
death to life more : nothing remaineth but a ' fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation/ Heb. x. 27.
SERMON UPON LUKE XVI. 25. 305
Use 1. Information to teach us —
1* What little reason the people of God have to envy wicked men
their portion. We should rather pity them. Alas ! this is all they
get ; they have this and no more, this and everlasting destruction at
the back of it. God suffereth them to clamber up to the height of
wealth and honour, that their fall may be the more terrible. Worldly
wealth and prosperity is not of so much worth and excellency as many
think. If it were the conduit wherein God conveyeth his special love,
it were another matter (though we should be satisfied in God's order
ing), but it is not so. If it were so, it would be dispensed otherwise
than it is ; the wicked would not have so much of it, nor the godly want
it so much. The godly want it the rather, because they think so highly
of it, and God is more gracious than to give it to them when they are
in a frame so ready to abuse it.
2. How contented the people of God should be in a mean condition,
if God reduce them thereunto. [See Sermon on Mark x. 23.]
Use 2. Is caution to us all. Now we must turn Abraham's memento,
* remember,' into a cave, c beware.' Beware that you do not receive
your good things in this life. I must turn the exprobration into counsel
and admonition. Prevention is better than remembrance.
1. Be satisfied with nothing which may stand with the hatred of an
eternal God. The enjoyment of all the world may, but sanctifying grace
cannot. The highest worldly happiness may consist with God's hatred,
and the greatest adversity of the saints with his love. The first is verified
in Christ's supposition : Mat. xvi. 24, ' If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.' And the
latter is verified by that of the apostle : Kom. viii. 35-39, ' Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, nakedness, or peril, or sword ? As it is written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep
for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.' A man may rejoice in the love of Christ in the want of
other things.
2. Be satisfied with nothing but what will stead thee, and serve thy
turn in the other world ; for all must be measured with respect to
eternity : 1 Tim. vi. 19, ' Laying up in store a good foundation for
themselves, against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal
life ; ' and Mat. vi. 19-21, ' Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break
through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not
break through nor steal For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also/
VOL. XVIII.
SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS XIII. 4-8.
Charity suffereih long, and is kind; charity envieih not; charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
rejoicetli not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Cltarity never faileth : but ivhether there be prophecies, they shall
fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether there
be knowledge, it shall vanish away. — 1 COB. xiii. 4-8.
I HAVE a long time had a desire to open the nature of this divine and
heavenly grace of charity. I know not how the argument will relish
with you, but my aim is rather to profit than to please. We are
defective in our duties to God, the Lord knoweth ; but what and if I
show that we are as defective in our duties to man, wherein we think
natural conscience is a sufficient guide to us. A little serious reflection
upon this scripture will discover it. In the context observe,
1. The excellency and necessity of charity above all other gifts.
2. The nature and properties of it.
1. For the excellency and necessity of charity. Gifts are of several
sorts, as on the same tree grow leaves, flowers, fruit. None adpompam,
for show, but all ad usum, for use. But in the gifts for use, some make us
profitable, others acceptable. Though they have their use, yet they profit
not to salvation : ' Though I speak with the tongue of men and angels,
and have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling
cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries, and all knowledge ; and though I have faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have no charity, I am nothing. And though I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burnt, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing/ A man may
sacrifice a stout body to a stubborn mind, yet if it be not for God's
glory, and to edify others, it availeth not.
2. The nature and properties of it, in the text ; where the properties
of this excellent grace of charity are reckoned up : ' Charity suffereth
long, and is land, and envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
doth not behave itself unseemly,' &c.
In all these predications there is a metonymy, either of the subject
or of the effect. Of the subject ; charity doth thus, that is, the man
endowed with this heavenly gift or grace. If of the effect, then the
SEKMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XIII. 4-8. 307
meaning is, that where this habit is impressed and rooted, it is the
cause that these effects ensue ; that a man is long-suffering, kind, &c.
It is all one in which sense we expound the apostle, for all cometh
to the same issue. This premised, let us next explain the several
clauses.
1. ' Charity suffereth long,' fjbaXpoOvjjiei ; that is, maketh a man long-
suffering. This being the first and principal act of charity, it con-
cerneth us to state it aright ; and so it meaneth that where Christian
love prevaileth in the heart of any, he doth not presently break out
into anger when he is injured by another, but patiently expecteth his
repentance, and his own deliverance by the Lord. This pafcpoOvfAia,
long-suffering, signifieth a slowness to anger : James i. 19, ' Be
slow to wrath.' This agreeth with the pattern : Kom. ix. 22, ' What
if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known,
endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruc
tion ? ' And it agreeth with the nature of love ; for we are not easily
offended with those whom we love. Love and anger are contrary;
love would profit, anger would hurt and offend others ; therefore love
will not easily give place to its contrary. Charity doth pass by and
wink at causes of offence ; and therefore a quick resentment of injuries
is quite opposite to Christian love. Paul requireth of the servant of
the Lord, that he be patient, tiuxj-tfoaicvv, 2 Tim. ii. 24, ' The servant
of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach,
patient ; ' to which he adds, ver. 25, ' In meekness instructing those
that oppose themselves/ And in the context here he speaketh of
using gifts in an edifying manner, but to all Christians he saith,
' Charity suffereth long.' It is meant that they should be long-suffer
ing, not easily drawn to a fury or revenge of injuries. So that this
first property of charity is, that it restraineth wrath and a desire of
revenge, notwithstanding reproaches and injuries: Kom. xiii. 19,
* Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto
wrath ; ' that is, bear with it ; leave it to God, who will in time con
vince the party of his wrong, or recompense it unto him ; which is
according to the example of the Lord Jesus : 1 Peter ii. 23, ' Who,
when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.' When
foul crimes were laid to his charge, he did not give the least ill word
for the worst usage, but only resigned himself to his righteous Father,
to deal with him and his persecutors as he saw fitting. Now therefore
we should be patient, and long patient. Alas! how many injuries
doth God put up at our hands ! Whence is it that he hath not long
since dissolved the world, and put an end to the wickedness of man ?
We can only render the reason of the text, ' Love suffereth long.' If
we cannot suffer long, we are like that naughty servant that, when his
Lord had forgiven ten thousand talents, and his fellow-servant,
to whom he owed an hundred pence, said, /jLaKpodv^aov eV epol,
Mat. xviii. 29, ' Have patience with me ; ' that is, setting aside thy
present anger, bear a little, and see what I can do to pacify thee. An
instance of this rash anger, which is contrary to this suffering long, we
have in David : 1 Sam. xxv. 22, ' God do so to me, and more also, if I
leave off all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth
308 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XIII. ±-8.
against the wall/ But he behaved himself better towards Saul, whom
he spared when he had him in his power ; which was not the manner
of men in those times, as Saul confesseth : 1 Sam. xxiv. 18, ' For if a
man find his enemy, will he let him go well away ? '
2. ' And is kind,' ^^crrevera; that is, tender and compassionate, ready
to do good. We have a pattern of both in God, not only of forbear
ance, but of goodness. Therefore it is said, Rom. ii. 4, ' Or despisest
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not
knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? ' Now,
charity, that is of divine original, infuseth into man's nature a benig
nity which moveth a man to consider others as well as himself, that he
may do good to them. It is a godlike quality : 1 Peter ii. 3, ' If so
be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious/ on ^p^oro?, that he is
kind. This is a quality by which they are inclined and ready to do
good to every one, even to enemies. Well, then, it is not enough
lj,aKpoOvp,elv, to bear long, and not to hurt, but 'xprja-Teverai, it disposeth
us to do good. This is fitly coupled to the former. The perfection
and strength of Christianity lieth in these two things — mala pati, et
bona agere ; to suffer evil, and do good for it. To return good for
good, and evil for evil, the heathens knew this, and publicans will do
this. To render evil for good is the property of the devils, and men
inspired by them ; but to do good for evil, and to overcome evil with
good, this is proper to Christians. And therefore by these two pro
perties doth heavenly charity bewray itself, by long-suffering and
kindness. Therefore if you would know whether the love of God doth
dwell in your hearts, are you made ready to suffer, and to do anything
for the glory of God, and the salvation of your neighbour ? If so, then
you are sincere with God. He that loveth, suffereth long ; he that
loveth, is kind, and doth all the good he can to others, delights in
doing good ; and that not only to friends, in which there is nothing
eximious ; they do nothing but what the carnal world would do : Mat.
v. 46, 47, ' For if you love them that love you, what reward have ye ?
do not even the publicans the same ? And if you salute your brethren
only, what do ye more than others ? do not the publicans so ? ' But
to those that deal frowardly with us, as Joseph to his brethren,
Gen. xlv.
3. 'Charity envieth not/ ov tyjhoi. Nothing is more adverse to
the goodness commended to us than envy, which cannot bear the
good of another, and therefore is very far from procuring it and pro
moting it. Such was the envy of Cain, who taking notice that his
brother's offerings pleased God more than his own, he could not bear
it, and at length slew him : 1 John iii. 12, ' Not as Cain, who was of
that wicked one, and slew his brother : and wherefore slew he him ?
because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous/ Emula
tion and malignity at those that are better than ourselves is the very
poison and venom which the devil hath infused into human nature ;
the affection which put Cain upon killing his brother, and puts the
world upon persecuting serious Christians, when at the bottom they have
no other quarrel against them, but because they excel in the simplicity
of the Christian faith, and holiness, and obedience. Such were Joseph's
brethren, whose virtue was an eyesore to them, and therefore endea-
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XIII. 4-8. 309
voured his destruction, Gen. xxxvii. Such were the Jews in the time
of the apostles, who, despising the gospel, could not endure it should
be preached unto the gentiles : Acts xiii. 45, ' But when the Jews saw
the multitude, they were filled with envy, and spake against those
things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming/
Therefore well doth the apostle James call this ' Bitter envying,'
James iii. 14. It is like gall, which corrupts good food, and maketh
it unprofitable. So doth this bitter zeal corrupt all their actions whom
it doth possess. Well, then, ' Charity envieth not.' Those whom we
love sincerely, we will rejoice in their gifts and graces as in our own,
their success and prosperity as in our own, and be well pleased with
their happiness. But where envy prevaileth, charity hath no place ;
their praises are our disgrace, their success is our lessening ; and few
there be that can say, with John the Baptist, ' He must increase, but I
must decrease/ John iii. 30 ; that is, in splendour and fame. Alas !
as placid and well-contented as many seem without, envy burneth
within, and if it be not checked, will soon produce mischievous effects.
4. ' Charity vaunteth not itself/ ov irepirepeverai ; that is, it doth
nothing pragmatically and foolish in word or deed ; where it possesseth
the hearts of men, they do not arrogantly speak of themselves, or
what they have done or can do. Hesychius telleth us the meaning of
the word is //.era /SXa/ceta? e Traipopevos, one that is lifted up with
folly, as giddy proud fools are wont to vaunt or strut themselves, so
that their own pride rendereth them ridiculous. And so it forbids
arrogancy and external ostentation, as internal pride and self-conceit
is touched in the next property. Now charity is contrary to more
vices than one ; to pride, as it manifests itself by contemptuous and
scornful carriage, which irritate th others rather than edifieth them.
5. 'Is not puffed up/ ov fyvcnovra. He had told us, 1 Cor. viii. 1,
that ' Charity edifieth, but knowledge puffeth up ; ' that is, with a
vain conceit of our own worth, despising others. Now though know
ledge may beget this through the fault of him that receiveth that gift,
yet charity serveth all, despiseth none ; therefore pride and insolency
showed in despising others or overvaluing ourselves is far from the
temper of this heavenly grace. Poor empty bubbles are soon blown
up, contemning those that are beneath them in honours, favours,
riches, knowledge, and some external services which look like grace :
Luke xviii. 11, ' God, I thank thee I am not as other men are, extor
tioners, -unjust, adulterers, or as this publican/ This condemneth
that pride, whereby we thus conceit of our own good estate above
others. Whereas brotherly love would persuade us in honour to
prefer one another, Horn. xii. 10; and in humility to think others
better than ourselves, Phil. ii. 3 ; not with our lips only, setting on a
show of humility, but with our hearts ; for there is no man so great
that is not in some things beneath those whom he despiseth. And we
are conscious to our own infirmities, and should have a modest esteem
of our own graces and virtues ; for the true excellency of a Christian
lieth in a mean esteem of himself. For the great business of his
religion is to represent to him his own sinfulness, and the undeserved
goodness of God ; and therefore he seeketh no other esteem with
others than God fairly alloweth him, and dareth not set too high a
price upon himself, nor is troubled if others come not up to his price.
310 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XIII. 4-8.
6. ' It doth not behave itself unseemly,' OVK aa-^povel. This fol-
loweth well on the former ; for men puffed up transgress the rules
of all decency in setting out themselves, not giving others the respect
due to them. Therefore it must needs be one of the properties of
charity to make men do that which will become meekness, modesty,
and godliness, and to abstain from all things that may be an offence
and scandal to others in words, deeds, gesture, clothing, generally in
all parts of conversation. Whatever may expose us to the contempt
of others, or may argue a contempt of them, or may be a just offence,
charity will mind us to forbear it : Phil. iv. 8, ' Whatsoever things are
lovely, think on these things.'
7. ' Seeketh not her own," ov ^rjret ra eavrfjs. Self-love prompteth
us merely to seek our own things, but charity seeketh the profit of
others. It doth not drive on a self-seeking trade, or mind, these things
which make for our own advantage, but the welfare of others, and is
as sensible and zealous for other men's good as of its own. To take
care of their safety, ra erepav tyjTetv, Phil. ii. 4, 'Look every man
to the things of others.' To maintain our neighbour's good estate in
his profit, honour, fame. Spiritual blessings should be aimed at by us
by the same accuracy and diligence that we use in reference to our
selves. The law of charity here is, that we study not our own private
profit so as to neglect others, or that any damage should thereby arise
to others. Paul often presseth this: 1 Cor. x. 24, ' Let no man mind
his own, but every man another's wealth.' Not so seek his private
profit as to neglect the public. A man must mind his own affairs,
but not with the neglect and damage of others ; first, in the use of his
Christian liberty ; secondly, in his calling ; wherein they sin greatly
who seek to draw all to themselves.
8. 'It is not easily provoked,' ov Trapo^vverai. If differences
arise, it handleth them peaceably. It doth not draw on things to
fervour, and acerbity of contention. A paroxysm is the sharp fit of a
fever, and signifieth when anger is boiled to a height. But charity
is not exasperated, or highly provoked to anger, or embittered into
wrath and passion. This property is to show that it tempereth just
anger, that men fall not into immoderate violent distempers of passion
upon whatever provocation. It is hard to abstain from all anger
when we meet with so many occasions of it in the course of our lives,
but the violence is corrected by love. There was a hot fit between
Paul and Barnabas : Acts xv. 39, ' And the contention was so sharp
between them, that they parted asunder one from the other.' Paul's
cause was more just. Those that love one another may find a temp
tation, but love should allay these bitter gusts, for we should always
remember that, ' Be angry and sin not ; ' that is, if ye be angry, beware
of sin, Eph. iv. 26.
9. 'Thinketh no evil,' ov \oyi^erai TO icatcbv. The word signi
fieth two things — to think or design, to impute or reckon. In the first
acceptation the sense is that a charitable person plotteth not in his
mind how he shall do his neighbour any evil. Now designing evil is
so vile a thing, and so abhorred by heathens, that the apostle would
not mention the forbearing of that as an effect of divine charity ;
therefore most probably we must pitch upon the latter sense ; not for
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XIII. 4-8. 311
not contriving hurt to others, but not to reckon or impute it to them.
And. so it is the property of charity not rashly to impute evil to any
man. It suspects no evil in others, as long as their actions are capable
of a good interpretation, or while other good is mingled with it. Envy '
and detraction, like a fly, pitcheth on the sore place ; but charity doth
not easily think evil of its neighbour, but interpreteth doubtful things
in the better part. If wronged by others, they rather impute it to
their inconsideration than their malice ; and if it cannot be excused,
they do not impute, charge, or upbraid them with it, as brawling
people do.
10. ' It rejoiceth not in evil/ ov %aipet eVt rfj d&iteia. Nothing
is more abhorrent from the nature of charity than eTu^aipe/ca/aa,
rejoicing in the hurt of another. Now this may happen on two
occasions — (1.) When any one doth that which is unjust ; (2.) When
injustice is done to any one. In the first case, charity rejoiceth not
that others fall into sin, which indeed is a pleasure to them that hate
them, but charity will make a man heartily mourn and grieve for any
sin that is committed by another. It is a joy to see others discharge
their duty, but a grief that they offend God. The second case is, if
our enemy be injured by others, we boastingly say, Oh, how well is
this man served ! Now thus to rejoice in or applaud the misery of
others will not stand with charity, which seeketh the reformation of
others, not their ruin and disgrace. David, when he heard of the
death of Saul, he rent his clothes and wept and fasted : 2 Sam. i. 11, 12,
' And David took hold of his clothes and rent them, and all the men
that were with him ; and they mourned and wept, and fasted until
evening for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the
Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the edge
of the sword.' And Job saith, chap. xxxi. 39, ' If I rejoiced at the
destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found
him; neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse
to his soul.' Revenge is sweet to a carnal nature, but divine love
checketh it, and purgeth out this old leaven of malice more and more.
11. ' But rejoiceth in the truth,' crv^aipei, Se rfj d\r)0ela. .Truth
is taken for sincerity of goodness. Charity wisheth those that displease
us were better than they are, and that they did nothing but what is
right, just, and good ; rejoices at any good that befalleth others,
especially at the holy and virtuous actions performed by them, and
their integrity and sincerity. This is a good note ; for what a man
really is, he desireth others should be.
12. ' It beareth all things/ The word is irav-ra a-rejet,, covereth all
things, which the Greek word also signifieth ; and so there is a
tautology avoided ; for the last clause of this verse is ' endureth all
things/ Now the meaning of this clause is, that charity doth not
easily divulge the crimes of others : Prov. x. 12, ' Hatred stirreth up
strife, but love covereth all sins/ None of us can expect to live in the
world but we shall meet with many failings and wrongs in the best of
God's children. These will need the cover of love, that we may
neither shame our brethren nor disgrace our religion. Therefore one
property of this grace is to hide and conceal the evil we know by
another, as far as it is for his good, and not contrary to the greater
312 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XIII. 4-8.
good of others ; for then a greater charity obligeth us to reveal it. As
if a man be a seducer, or if one profess to do religion a mischief, it is
our duty to reveal it ; but otherwise it is an offence to speak all we
know of others, though it be true ; for all evil must not be divulged,
but sometimes covered with the cloak of love. There may be malice
in reporting truth ; for an eager desire to spread a fault wanteth not
sin : Jer. xx. 10, ' Keport say they, and we will report it/ Nay ; if
there be no ill intent, such prattle will come under the charge of idle
words, unless it be for discovering a hypocrite, that others may not
be deceived nor ensnared.
13. ' It believeth all things,' 'ndvra irurrevei ; not such things as are
apparently false, but hath no prejudice against that which others
profess, if not prevalently contradicted. It desireth others should be
good, and therefore easily believeth them according to the profession
which they make, and whilst things are any way credible, and not
manifestly false. It dareth not harbour an ill conceit of others, inter
preting all things to the best as long as the contrary appeareth not,
and whatever can be said for the mitigation of a fault. It is easily
persuaded, James iii. 17. It doth not indulge unwarrantable suspicions,
and as long as it can taketh all things in good part that are said or
done by others ; for till it hath an idoneous proof, it had rather be
deceived in thinking well of others than suspecting evil. It is a
malignity to fasten an evil sense on a speech or action that may bear a
good one.
14. ' Hopeth all things,' iravra 'eA,7rt£ei. This is added because what
charity cannot believe it hopeth for. When nothing is said by way of
defence and excuse, it hopeth the best the matter is capable of ; if not
for the present, it despaireth not that, being fallen, they will rise again ;
they despair not of their repentance, nor give over the use of all probable
means to reclaim them.
15. ' It endureth all things,' nrdvra vTroperei ; that is, suffereth
injuries done to itself, for peace's sake, without revenging itself.
They can endure much pain, and trouble, and loss to procure a greater
good to others ; that is, greater than the pain we suffer ourselves ; and
therefore it meditateth not revenge.
16. And lastly, ' Charity never faileth,' ouSe-Trore eKTriTrrei ; that is,
never ceaseth in this life to bring forth these fruits ; neither shall it
cease in the life to come. There the love of God and our brethren
abideth and is perfect. Men die, but charity liveth, and is exercised
by us in another world. It is not a grace out of date in heaven. Here
it is not weary, Gal. vi. 9 ; there it shall not cease, 1 Cor. xiii. 13.
The duties are other, but the grace is the same.
Use 1. Let me beseech you, as Chrysostom did his hearers, often
to ruminate on this description of charity. Kemember it is a discrim
inating grace, not an arbitrary thing, that we are speaking of. The
business is whether you are something in religion or nothing. They
that cannot bridle their passions, but live in enmity, malice, pride, and
covetousness, and have not charity, are nothing.
2. What reason we have to deprecate God's strict judgment, and
clear up the business of our sincerity. Alas ! without an evangelical
interpretation what would become of us ? It is true we break not into
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XIII. 4-8. 313
gross enormities, but how many infirmities stick to us ! Though a
Christian cannot wholly subdue them, he must in some measure over
come them. Anger will stir when we are provoked, but by the
ordinary assistance of God's grace we may keep off from running out
into furious words and actions, or cursing or swearing, or striking or
reviling. An envious thought may arise against our brother because he
is preferred before us, but we hate it, labour to keep it under, chide
ourselves for it, do not let our envy break out into a malignant detrac
tion from their worth, or blemishing their gifts and graces. A child of
God may feel the ticklings of pride, yet he will not suffer it to break
out into boasting language ; some motions of revenge, but they do not
break out into mischievous contradiction.
3. What need there is of constant mortification. How else can we
exercise this love, we being so covetous, proud, passionate, and self-
seeking ? the 7ra#77 and &ri0VfjUcu, affections and lusts, must be both
broken : Gal. v. 24, ' They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with
the affections and lusts thereof.'
4. What a friend Christianity is to human society ; for how peace
able might we live together if this love did more rule in our hearts !
5. How perverse man is, who accounts this duty irksome, when he
will do much more for his lusts and ambition : ver. 7, ' Beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.'
Easily will men bear this task for their worldly ends.
6. How much love in the Spirit differeth from ordinary love. This
is a fruit of love to God : 1 John v. 1, ' Every one that loveth him that
begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him ; ' and of faith in Christ :
John xv. 12, ' This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I
have loved you ; ' and hopes of eternal life, in the text
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. T.
They go from strength to strength ; every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. — Ps. Ixxxiv. 7.
THIS psalm was penned by David in his exile, as is most probable ;
for therein he professeth his longing after the courts of God, or his
wonted access to the ark of the covenant and public ordinances.
Being deprived of that benefit, he expresseth his value of it. Such
privileges are best understood carendo magis quam fruendo, by want
rather than enjoyment. In which of his flights and persecutions it is
not easy to determine, whether those by Saul or by Absalom ; rather
those by Absalom, for then the ark was upon Zion hill, 2 Sam. vi. 12 ;
but in Saul's time the ark was at Kirjath-jearim, 1 Sam. vii. 1 ; and
when he fled from Absalom was his solemn parting from the ark : 2 Sam.
xv. 25, 26, ' And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God
into the city : if I shall find favour in the eyes of God, he will bring
me again, and show me both it and his habitation : but if he say thus,
I have no delight in thee, behold here I am, let him do to me as
seemeth good unto him.' In the psalm —
1. He professeth his value and esteem of the public worship, or
enjoying God in the ordinances and means of grace : 'How amiable
are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of hosts ! ; ver. 1. Then his earnest
desire of this privilege of free wonted access to the house of God : ver.
2, ' My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord ; my
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.' There was soul, and
heart, and flesh in it, as to extension ; and crying out, longing, fainting,
and all for the courts of God, as to intention.
2. He compareth his condition with the swallows and sparrows, that
had liberty of flying and building their nests about the altars of God.
It is a notable poetical strain, as passionate lovers are wont to express
themselves upon like occasions : ver. 3, ' Yea, the sparrow hath found
an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her
young, even thine altars, 0 Lord of hosts, my king and my God.'
3. Then he compareth himself —
[1.] With the priests and Levites, whose constant residence was
in the temple : ver. 4, ' Blessed are they that dwell in thy house ; they
will be still praising thee, Selah.' Those that are always in God's
house, constantly allowed the privilege of his solemn service or sacred
assemblies, beholding the symbols of his presence, the ark of the cove-
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7. 315
nant, upon which God sat, and gave answers of grace, 0 blessed they
indeed !
[2.] With the people, that went up to worship three times of the year
at Jerusalem, to keep the solemn feasts, according to the ordinance of
God : Exod. xxiii. 17, ' Three times in the year all thy males shall
appear before the Lord God.' They were to journey afoot to the
tabernacle, there to appear before the Lord. Their condition was
blessed in comparison of David's, who was now debarred of all access
to God's courts. These are described— (1.) By their earnest desire
and resolution to take this journey, though they dwelt far off from the
tabernacle : ver. 5, ' Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, in
whose heart are the ways of them.' Their hearts were set upon the
ways that led to the courts of God. (2.) By their painful passage, and
yet some refreshments by the way : ver. 6, ' Who passing through the
valley of Baca make it a well ; the rain also filleth the pools.' Their
way to the tabernacle, now seated upon the hill of Zion, lay through
dry and comfortless places, through the valley of Baca, or of mulberry-
trees, as the margin readeth it ; that is, through dry and sandy deserts,
in which those trees grow. It may be the place mentioned 2 Sam. v.
23, 24, the valley of Kephaim, where mulberry-trees grew, and where
David smote the Philistines — J3ept. efc rrjv KoL\d8a TOV K\,vv0fi(ovo<;, the
valley of tears. The want of water in those hot countries was very
-troublesome. Where great multitudes with store of cattle travelled
towards Zion upon these solemn occasions, they had their difficulties
and discouragements by the way, but their ardent zeal and strong
affection overcame all. And as they had their difficulties, so they had
their comforts ; sometimes they met with a well, and sometimes with
a pond filled with rain; sometimes with more, sometimes with less
refreshments. (3.) They are described by their constant progress, till
they came to the place they aimed at ; that is, in the text, ' They go
from strength to strength ; every one of them in Zion appeareth before
God;' that is, having found some refreshment and reparation of
strength, they are encouraged to go on their way, till they appear before
God in the holy feast, and have communion with him in his public
worship ; and then cheerful, joyful souls they !
In which words — (1.) Their progress is described ; (2.) The term
and end of their journey.
I. Their progress, ' They go from strength to strength ; ' that is, they
are always gathering new strength and courage, notwithstanding their
difficulties. It is avaStVXtucri? avgrjriKr), that is, increasing their power
and strength yet more and more ; so far are they from being" weary,
faint, and discouraged ; as Rom. i. 17, ' The righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith ; ' that is, our faith still increasing ; and
a-Tro BO^TJ<; ek Sogav, ' from glory to glory,' 2 Cor. iii. 18; that is, our glory
increasing more and more. So ' they go from strength to strength ; ' that
is, they increase in strength and courage. Some read from company to
company, or from troop to troop or squadron to squadron. As the
word signifieth strength in the general, so sometimes a troop of men.
It was their fashion to repair to these feasts in great troops. For
David saith, Ps. xlii. 4, ' I had gone with the multitude ; I went with
them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a
316 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7.
multitude that kept holy day ; ' Luke ii. 44, ' They supposing him to
be in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought him among
their kinsfolk and acquaintance/ The crowd was so great that Christ
was lost in the throng. So they go from troop to troop, from one of
these companies to another, the later overtaking the foremost, which
showeth their alacrity in this journey. But we may keep our reading,
etc £uyayiiea>? et? Svvafuv, ' from strength to strength.'
II. The term and end of the journey : ' Every one of them in Zion
appeareth before God.' At length they come to the tabernacle, the
type of Christ's promised incarnation, God's pitching his tent in human
flesh ; and so these godly travellers reap the benefit of their long trouble,
and enjoy the pleasure of God's public worship. The Sept. read
o<J>0r)<reTai 6 @eo9 rfav 6ewv ev Slow, the God of gods shall be seen in
Zion.
The words are opened. Now the use of them is double, as Zion was
a figure of the church, or as it is a figure of heaven.
1. As Zion was a figure of the church, so it doth express the zeaJLof
Gad's children to join themselves to his militant church in this world>
and to make after the ordinances, there to enjoy Christ, notwithstand
ing all difficulties with which such a purpose is encumbered. Those
that may have comfortable communion with God in his holy worship
must expect troubles ; and yet they many times meet with a spring or
a pool by the way, some mitigations of providence, and refreshments
in their miseries ; at length they shall obtain their desire.
2. As Zion is a figure of heaven, of Jerusalem that is above, the city
that hath foundations ; and so it doth notably express the condition of
those that aspire after the triumphant church in heaven ; and all things
in this psalm concerning these passengers are sweetly applicable to this.
David compareth himself to two sort of Israelites : ver. 4, ' Blessed are
they that dwell in thy house ; they shall be still praising tb.ee/ Some
saints are at home already, dwelling with God, and praising him is their
perpetual exercise. These are in patria, in their country : others in
via, in the way ; travellers home.
[1.] T.heir hearts are in the ways thereof ; their whole time, care,
thoughts, and affections are set upon this, how they may get home :
Phil. iii. 20, ' Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look
for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ; ' Mat. vi. 20, 21, ' Lay up for
yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal ; for where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also/
[2.] These have a wilderness to get through, and a comfortless valley
full of discouragements ; for ' through manifold tribulations we must
enter into the kingdom of God,' Acts xiv. 22. , Only now and then God
giveth them a little refreshing, a spring by the way, or a pool ; some
times inward, sometimes outward comforts and supports, that they may
not be afflicted above measure, and beyond what they are able to bear.
[3.] In this valley of tears, and in the midst of sorrows, they find
strength renewed to them, and supports given, so that the further they
go the more cheerful they are.
[4.] At length our troublesome pilgrimage in this world is rewarded
with the beatifical vision of God in a better world ; and then we shall
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7. 317
find that all our pains, though never so great, are well bestowed, when
the God of gods is seen in Zion.
First, Those whose hearts are set upon the ways of God, and do in the
midst of all difficulties hope to come before him in Zion, that is above,
it is their privilege and duty to go on from strength to strength.
Secondly, Those that go from strength to strength shall at length
appear before God in a blessed and heavenly estate.
Doct. 1. Those whose hearts are set upon the ways of God, and do
in the midst of all difficulties hope to come before him in Zion, it is
their privilege and duty to go on from strength to strength.
1. It is their privilege as they grow older to grow better, wiser, and
stronger : Isa. xl. 31, ' They that wait on the Lord shall renew their
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run,
and not be weary ; they shall walk, and not faint/ They that wait on
the Lord, that do with patience expect the performance of his promises,
shall still have a new supply of strength, enabling them to bear up
when they seem to be clean spent, so as to mount as on eagles' wings,
which are fowls that fly strongly and swiftly, and renew their youth :
Ps. ciii. 5, ' Thy youth is renewed like the eagles.' Whether as those
fowls are famous for long life, vigorous and healthful, as if always
young, or it respects some particular qualities of the eagle. Some say
the eagle by casting her feathers reneweth her youth; as Micah i. 16,
•* Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle.' Some by casting her bill, when
the upper beak groweth crooked with age, and shutteth up the lower.
Well, then, this is the privilege of God's servants; so Ps. xcii. 13, 14,
* Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the
courts of our God ; they shall bring forth fruit in old age ; they shall
be fat and flourishing.' Those plants which our heavenly Father
hath planted, in the midst of all their troubles and difficulties, they
flourish, as trees stand all weathers, and are helped by them ; yea, the
courts of God are such a kindly soil, that they bring forth fruit in old
age, so moistened by the dews of heaven and fountain of the gardens,
which is the Spirit. The decay of the outward man shall not hinder
the renewing of the inward man, but the last work is better than the
first. Their bodies, when ruinous, are yet the temples of the Holy
Ohost ; then are they kept fresh and lively, and shall have great delight
in God, and be fertile to the last. So Prov. x. 29, ' The way of the Lord
is strength to the upright.' A man that is sincere and upright with
God; the more he walketh with God the more encouragement he hath,
more peace of conscience, more freedom from sin, greater readiness
and ability for God's service ; there is a power that increaseth with
«very duty ; as the more a man swimmeth, or writeth, or playeth on an
instrument, the facility is increased. Many are ready to faint, and
think they shall never hold out in the midst of the difficulties they
meet with in the valley of Baca, but every new difficulty bringeth new
strength with it. These promises serve to encourage us to continue
with patience in well-doing ; there shall constantly be a renewed supply
of grace and strength.
2. It is their duty to go on from strength to strength ; that, as a
river, the farther it runneth the broader and deeper it groweth ; it doth
not lose, but get, by a further accession of waters ; the fountain is
318 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7.
small, as to the head and first rise, in comparison of the stream ; so a
Christian is to go on from one degree of righteousness unto another,
and still grow stronger in the graces of the Spirit : John iv. ] 4, ' Who
soever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst ; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life.' And abound more in all
holy actions. Paul's instance : Phil. iii. 13, 14, ' Forgetting the things
that are behind, and reaching forth to the things that are before, I
press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus.' As a runner in a race doth not say, There is so much
of the way already past, now I may slacken my pace ; but there is so
much yet to come, and therefore run still ; so a Christian says, There
are so many sins to be mortified, so many graces to be attained, such
difficulties to be encountered, still I must hold on my course, or else I
shall come short of the goal.
Keasons why we must go on.
1. That we may recover what we have lost. We have lost in Adam
complete and perfect innocency, and surely we should not cease till it
be made up in Christ. He is more able to save than Adam to destroy :
Kom. v. 17, ' For if by one man's offence death reigned by one, much
more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of right
eousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.' Adam was a public
person by institution ; Christ was not only instituted, but had an
intrinsic value ; he was God-man.
2. To preserve what we have. If we do not grow better, we grow
worse : Heb. vi. 1, * Let us go on to perfection ; ' and then presently he
treateth of apostasy, ver. 4, &c. So 2 Peter iii. 17, 18, ' Seeing ye
know these things before, beware lest ye also, being lead away with the
error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness ; but grow in
grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.'
We cannot keep that which we have received if we do not labour to
increase it : Mat xxv. 29, ' Unto every one that hath shall be given,
and he shall have abundance ; but from him that hath not shall be
taken away even that which he hath.' They that row against the
stream, or he that goeth up a sandy hill, if they do not go forward
they go backward. We are either ascending or descending, continually
in motion. When a tree leaveth off to grow, it decayeth. Man goeth
backward in his estate if he have constant expenses and no gettings.
If we would maintain that measure of grace which we have, we must go
forward.
3. That we may attain to what is promised. God hath promised
absolute holiness : 1 Thes. v. 23, 24, ' The very God of peace sanctify
you wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith
ful is he that calleth you, who will also do it/ When he had prayed,
he groundeth his confidence on God's faithfulness : Eph. v. 27, ' That
he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy, and without
blemish.' Christ died to bring us to a state of perfection ; and being
told so, we expect it. We do not put off all our filthy garments at
once, but there is a body of sin cleaveth to the best ; and therefore
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7. 319
this work is done by degrees. So Col. i. 22, ' To present you holy, and
unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight;' Jude 24, 'Now unto
him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory,' &c. This work is undertaken by
Christ, and he is to carry it on from one degree to another, till it be com
pleted at death. These expressions would be in vain if there were not
a going on from strength to strength and a constant increase. £/orn
doth not grow in the barn, but in the field.
4. That we may perform what is required. The law of God ia
perfect, and alloweth no sin or sinful weakness, therefore we should
allow none. The perfection of the law is so far still in force — (1.)
As that we should be ashamed of our defects in holiness, and mourn
over them : Horn. vii. 14, ' The law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold
unders in.' Alas ! poor captive ! I cannot do what I would. (2.) We
should be unsatisfied with our present measure of holiness, and still
be longing and striving after more : Phil. iii. 12, ' Not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after it,
that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus.' The perfection of the law is of this use, that we may be kept
humble, and aspire after further growth, and make further progress
every day. Perfection in holiness is not attainable in this life, yet we
are to aim at no less. Christ took hold of us in effectual calling for
this end ; and we are not sincere with God, if it be not so.
5. That we may answer the patterns set before us. The saints in
scripture are all set forth for an example ; Abraham in faith, Konu
iv. 20 ; Job in patience, James v. 11 ; Timothy in sobriety ; Paul in zeal
and diligence. We are to take the prophets for an example ; and
Paul biddeth us follow him, as he followed Christ : 1 Cor. xi. 1, ' Be
ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.' These holy men had
the same nature, the same interests and concernments ; we have the
same helps and encouragements, the same God, and Christ, and Spirit,
and rule, and hopes, and comfort, and glory, which should shame us
to come short of them. Therefore you must be agoing from strength
to strength. Yea, the angels : Mat. vi. 10, ' Thy will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.' It is but reason that they that would be like them
for privileges should be like them for service and duty. If the angels,
that are out of gunshot and harm's way, hold on in God's service,
much more should we. Wicked men think everything in religion
enough; and that we make more ado than needeth, but Christ referreth
us to the angels : yea, to God himself : 1 Peter i. 15, ' Be ye holy, as
he that has called you is holy ; ' Mat. v. 48, ' Be ye perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.' Now therefore we must by degrees be
growing up unto this estate. The holiest upon earth are not a sufficient
copy to us. God is essentially holy, infinitely holy, originally holy.
Now wherein must we imitate him ? We must be immutably holy ;
we should aim at that state, when we shall be in some sort so. God
is universally holy in all his ways and works ; we should get nearer
and nearer to this pattern.
6. That we may answer our many experiences. There is no man of
any long standing in the profession of godliness but he hath many
experiences of the bitterness of sin, when he hath been meddling with
320 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7.
forbidden fruit ; and of the vanity of the creature, when he hath doted
upon it, and at length he findeth that there is a lie in his right hand :
Eccles. i. 14, ' I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and
behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit.' Of the comfort of duty ;
when done all things for God, there is a sweetness accompanieth it :
Micah ii. 7, ' Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly ? '
Of the help of God in his difficulties and straits : Ps. xlvi. 1, ' God is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' Of the truth
of his promises : Ps. xviii. 30, ' As for God, his way is perfect ; the word
of the Lord is tried ; he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.' Of
answer of prayers : Ps. cxvi. 1, 2, ' I love the Lord because he hath
heard my voice and my supplication ; because he hath inclined his ear
unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.' Of the
enterprises of Satan : 2 Cor. ii. 11, ' Lest Satan should get an advantage
of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.' Now to have all these
experiences, and to be nothing improved and bettered, is very sad:
Deut. xxix. 4, ' Yet the Lord hath not given them an heart to perceive,
nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear, unto this day.' To be nothing better,
nothing wiser, is an argument of spiritual stupidness and folly.
7. To answer all the means, and the care and cost that God hath
been at with us and for us. God expecteth growth where he has
afforded the means of growth in great plenty: Luke xiii. 7, ' He said
to the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I came seeking
fruit on this fig-tree, and find none ; cut it down, why cumbereth it the
ground ? ' It must be understood dejure, not de facto, of what God
might expect, for God cannot be disappointed : ' Have I been thus long
with you, and hast thou not known me ? ' John xiv. 9. It was a
grief to Christ when they were not grown under the means of grace :
Luke xii. 48, ' Where much is given, much is required.' It is grie
vous to the Spirit of God when we are no better for all that is done
to us.
Application.
1. As it is a privilege of the sincere Christian whose heart is set
heavenward, so it is for his encouragement : ' They go from strength
to strength.' If there be new troubles, there is new strength. Many
are ready to faint in the valley of Baca, and think they shall never
hold out. There is a continual supply : Kom. ii. 7, ' To them who, by
patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and
immortality, eternal life ; ' Luke viii. 15, ' The good ground bringeth
forth fruit with patience.' They have present support, and shall have
final deliverance : Ps. cxxxviii. 3, ' In the day when I cried thou
answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.'
God gives a power to bear up your spirit in all your burdens. God is
no Pharaoh ; you shall have strength with your work, strength with
your trials, strength with your difficulties. A good man will not
overburden his beast ; and God will give final deliverance ; your
troublesome journey will not last long ; it will be over in a little time,
and then you shall appear before God in Zion. There is rest : Kev.
xiv. 13, ' That they may rest from their labours, and their works
follow them.' In heaven you have nothing to do but to bless God, and
praise God, and admire God to all eternity. Therefore be encouraged ;
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXX1V. 7. 321
go in the strength of your present refreshings, and God will find new
grace for you, while you continue upright with him.
2. As it is a duty.
Use 1. It showeth the folly of them who count an earnest pursuance
of eternal life to be more than needs, and that a little holiness will
serve the turn. Oh no ! A Christian should always be growing and
always improving, still pressing nearer and nearer towards the mark,
going on from strength to strength. There is no nimium in holiness ;
you cannot have too much holiness, or too much of the love of God,
nor of the fear of God, nor of faith in him. There are many that come
near and never enter : Luke xiii. 24, ' Strive to enter in at the strait
gate ; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be
able.' Certainly he that knoweth what was lost in Adam, and must
be recovered in Christ, cannot think he can do enough or too much.
How hard a matter is it to keep what we have ! Such is the vanity,
lightness, and inconstancy of our hearts in good, and so furious are the
assaults of sundry temptations, and so great is our impotency to resist
them ; our proneness to turn from the ways of God so great ; so strong,
subtle and assiduous are our spiritual adversaries ; so many are those
difficulties, discouragements, diversions, and hindrances which we have
to wrestle with and overcome in the way to heaven, that it concerneth
us to give all diligence to advance in our Christian course. Once more,
there is so much promised, that certainly a man knoweth not what
Christianity meaneth if he striveth not to be more holy. So exact is
our rule, and strict, so holy is our God, so great are our obligations
from all the means and providences of God, that such a vain conceit
cannot possess the soul of a serious Christian.
Use 2. It reproveth those who, if they have gotten such a measure
of grace, whereby they think they may be assured they are in a state
of grace, they never look further, but set up their rest, and think here
after Christ will make them perfect when they die. Consider —
1. They hazard their claim of sincerity that do not aim at perfection ;
for where there is true grace, there will be a desire of the greatest
perfection ; as a small seed will seek to grow up into a tree. He that
is truly good will be growing from good to better, and so is best at
last ; the more his light and love is increased, the more he is troubled
about the relics of sin, and grieved at his heart that he can serve God
no more perfectly.
2. All promises are accomplished by degrees ; and so far as we hope
for anything, we will be endeavouring it : 1 John iii. 3, ' Every man
that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as he is pure.'
3. According to the degrees of grace so will our glory be. The
vessel is filled according to its capacity. They that are growing here
have more in heaven. He that improved ten talents hath a reward
proportionable, and so he that improved five, Mat. xxv. As our
measures of grace are, so will our measures of glory be, all according
to their size and receptivity. As there are degrees of punishments in
hell, so of rewards in heaven. He that loved God more on earth has
more of his love in heaven.
Use 3. It showeth the miserable estate of them that do not go
from strength to strength, but from weakness to weakness ; that waste
VOL. XVIII. X
322 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7.
their strength by sin, that are fallen back, and have lost the savouriness
of their spirits, and their delight in communion with God, and grow
more careless and neglectful of holy things, weak in faith, impatient
under the cross, formal in holy duties ; their heart is not watched,
their tongue is not bridled, their conversation is more vain, they wax
worse and worse. Oh ! take heed of such a declining estate. When
men fall from their first love : Eev. ii. 4, ' I have somewhat against
thee, because thou hast left thy first love.' First faith : 1 Tim.
v. 12, ' Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.'
Or first obedience : 2 Chron. xvii. 3, ' The Lord was with Jehoshapbat,
because he walked in the first ways of his father David.' David in his
later time fell into scandalous crimes.
Use 4. Is to persuade you to go on from strength to strength. It
is the gift of God's free grace, and the work of the Spirit : Eph. iii.
16, ' That he would grant you to be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner man.' By maintaining and actuating grace, notwith
standing all difficulties.
Motives.
1. What a monstrous thing is it to be always babes and infants in
grace ! Heb. v. 12, 13, ' For when for the time ye ought to be teachers,
ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of
the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not
of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the
word of righteousness ; for he is a babe.' After many years of growing,
to be a babe still, an infant still, is monstrous.
2. Besides your entrance into Christianity, there must be a progress.
There is the gate and the way : Mat. vii. 14, ' Strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life.' Will you always keep at
the door and entrance ? It is not enough to begin, but you must
finish what you have begun, in the way of mortification, heavenly-
mindedness, and self-denial.
3. All the ordinances promote your growth ; it is the work of the
Spirit, but the Spirit doth it by the means of grace. We must not be
idle and negligent, but use the means ; as the word : 1 Peter ii. 2, 'As
new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may
grow thereby.' Every duty giveth Christ a more hearty welcome into
your souls, but especially the Lord's supper. At the table of the Lord
we have our spiritual refreshings. Our initiation was by baptism, but
our growth by this ordinance. How doth this do it ? Partly as it
increaseth our assurance of God's love, and so encourageth us in his
service ; partly as we do more solemnly make use of Christ, who is our
sanctification, 1 Cor. i. 30 ; partly as it doth excite unto more fruitful-
ness, we being planted in the courts of God, and feasted at his table,
and taking our meal and viaticum to encourage us in our journey to
heaven.
4. How many have thriven by less means ! Twice Christ marvelled ;
at the faith of the centurion : Mat. viii. 10, ' He marvelled and said, I
have not found so great faith, no not in Israel ;' and at the unbelief
of his own countrymen : Mark vi. 6, ' He marvelled because of their
unbelief.' One had so great a faith, and so little means ; the other so-
little faith, and so great means.
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7. 323
5. You might more convert the world if you had more grace and
holiness in your hearts, and did discover it more in your conversations.
By "your purity : Mat. v. 16, ' Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.' The more we live holily, the more we commend our profes
sion. So by your constancy and courage : 1 Peter iv. 14, ' If ye be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of glory
and of God resteth upon you.' On their part he is evil spoken of, but
on your part he is glorified. By your deadness to the pleasures of the
flesh : 1 Peter iv. 4, 5, ' Wherein they think it strange that you run
not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. Who
shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the
dead.' By your fidelity in your relations. The apostle, speaking of the
faithful behaviour of servants, saith, Titus ii. 10, ' Showing all good
fidelity, that ye may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things/
What is the reason that the hearts of men are not more freely drawn
out to the doctrine of Christ ? Doubtless one reason is it wanteth
adorning and beautifying by the carriage of its professors. They that
carry themselves holily in their relations, they make religion a beauti
ful lovely thing in the eyes of the world: 1 Peter iii. 1, ' Likewise, ye
wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the
word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of
the wives ; ' that is, preparatively induced, prejudices vanish at least.
6. You harden the wicked while you continue in your weaknesses,
and are so like them, so feeble in the resistance of sin, and the govern
ing of your own passions, appetites, and desires. You should condemn
the world ; as Noah : Heb. xi. 7, ' By faith Noah, being warned of
God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the
saving of his house, by which he condemned the world.' But you justify
the world, as Israel is said to justify Sodom : Ezek. xvi. 51, 'Neither
hath Samaria committed half of thy sins, but thou hast multiplied thine
abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine
abominations which thou hast done.' You differ more in your pre
tences than in your conversations whilst you are weak and not thoroughly
moulded and commanded by religion. If you are overcome by sensu
ality, pride, worldliness, envy, and malice, wherein do you differ from
the ungodly world but only in the name, and some little grace, which
is buried under an heap of sin ?
7. Your hearts will never serve you to do any excellent things for
God, but you will betray his honour upon all occasions by your weak
nesses and infirmities, either by foolish, opinions, vain desires, carnal
projects, or turbulent practices. These are only mastered by growth
in grace, and God hath most honour from the strong and fruitful
Christian : John xv. 8, ' Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear
much fruit.' Produce the" genuine fruits of godliness, and produce
them in plenty, and you will mightily honour God in the world. A
man acts most zealously and self-denyingly when the love of God beareth
rule in his heart : 2 Cor. v. 13, 14, ' For whether we be beside our
selves, it is for God ; or whether we be sober, it is for your sakes ; for
the love of Christ constraineth us.' There is none of us but might have
acted much better and wiser, and carried on our profession more to the
324 SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7.
honour of God, if we had yielded more to the sovereign power and
empire of grace.
Use 5. Try whether God's grace be decayed or increased in you ; if
according to our years and standing we are advanced in the way to
heaven ; if for every year of our lives we have passed a station of the
wilderness to Canaan ; if with the decaying of the natural life there
hath been a growth of the life of God in us : 2 Cor. iv. 16, ' Though
our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.'
Thus do God's people do, go on from strength to strength : 1 Thes. iv.
1, ' Furthermore we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord
Jesus Christ, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and
to please God, so ye would abound more and more.' As you are nearer
to the grave, are you a step nearer to heaven ? Are we every day more
careless than another or more serious ? What hath been our profi
ciency ? A man may be long at sea, yet make a short voyage ; so it is
with most men; they live long in the world, but they make little progress.
Are we stronger in resisting temptations to sin, from the devil, the
world, and the flesh ? 1 John ii. 14, ' Ye are strong, and the word of
God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.' In bear
ing afflictions and molestations of the flesh, upon the hopes of another
world : Prov. xxiv. 10, ' If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy
strength is small.' In promptitude and readiness of obedience. Do
you serve God with that readiness of mind that will become love to God
and faith in his promises? Heb. xiii. 21, ' The Lord make you perfect
in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well-
pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ/
Doct. 2. From the term of this motion : ' Those that go on from
strength to strength shall at length appear before God in Zion.' Here
observe —
1. The place, Zion, that is, heaven, in this accommodative sensewherein
I handle it : Heb. xii. 22, ' But ye are come unto Mount Zion, the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and unto an innumerable
company of angels,' &c. Now this is a glorious place. Jerusalem be
low was a beautiful city, but much more Jerusalem that is above. This
world is a valley of tears, wherein rueful spectacles are presented to our
eyes, woful news possess our ears ; here is sorrowing and sinning ; but
no such thing there, all is quiet, beautiful, and glorious ; no woful
sound, or sad spectacle, no dismal rumours nor evil tidings. Sense will
tell you what the outside is ; this spangled roof over our heads is but
the pavement of that palace.
2. The company, ' Every one/ They were travelling to Zion in dis
tinct troops, but they all meet in one assembly and congregation. So
here ; we have but little company by the way, a strait gate and a narrow
way, and but few that find it ; but when all meet together, there is ' an
innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of just men made per
fect/ Heb. xii. 22, 23 ; all joining as in one choir to laud and bless God
in a concert of voices.
3. Their blessedness, ' There they appear before God ; ' that is, their
happiness. They appear not in order to doom, but fruition. Not only
before God as a judge, but as a gracious father: 1 John iii. 2, ' When
we shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is ;'
SERMON UPON PSALM LXXXIV. 7. 325
1 Cor. xiii. 12, 'For now we see through a glass darkly, but then
faee to face : now I know in part, but then I shall know even also as I
am known.' Here we know God by hearsay, but see him not. The
fulness of our joy is from the vision and sight of God. All sight of
God transforming here : 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' We all, with open face behold
ing as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same
image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord ; ' but there
much more. Here we are like him in holiness, and there in happiness.
There is in God TO /j,arcapiov xal TO ayadov, £c., something happy, some
thing good ; and we shall be there like him in both.
Use. Let this beget patience : Kom. viii. 18, ' I reckon that the suf
ferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us.' Heaven will pay for all. And
let it also beget diligence : 1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Be ye steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know
that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' Be always pressing on,
because of the high price of your calling. The thought of the prize
should excite us to diligence.
SERMON UPON 1 CORINTHIANS XL 26.
Far as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the
Lord's death till he come. — 1 COB. xi. 26.
I SHALL fall directly upon the words, without any preface. In them
observe — (1.) A duty supposed ; (2.) The purpose and end of it de
clared.
1. The duty supposed. In it you may observe two things — (1.)
'O<ra/a9, ' as often,' implieth a -rroXXa/a?, that it must be often ; for he
doth not say, ordv, when, but ocra/a?, 'as often;' it should be very
often. Seldom communions came into the church upon the decay of
zeal. (2.) Both elements are supposed to be used : ' As often as ye eat
this bread, and drink this cup.' It is sacrilege to defrahd the people
of the communion of the cup, and to separate what God hath joined.
2. The end declared. Where, what, and how long. (1.) What is
the end ? To annunciate or * show forth the Lord's death.' It may
be read indicatively or imperatively, KaraTje\\eTe ; they come to the
same effect. Annuntiare debetis — Ye ought to show forth. So Vata-
llus. (2.) How long this rite must be observed to this end : ' Till
he come ; ' that is, to judgment : which implieth that this is a standing
ordinance, or means to keep his death in perpetual remembrance, till
we have no more need of memorials, because Christ is come in person.
Dock The Lord's supper is a solemn commemoration of the death
and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ — (1.) By way of illustration ; (2.)
By way of confirmation.
1. By way of illustration. I shall explain both the object and the
act. The object is ' the Lord's death ; ' the act is annunciation, or show
ing forth.
First, The object, which I shall open in three propositions —
1. That the sacraments do chiefly relate to Christ's death. For
baptism : Kom. vi. 3, ' Know ye not that so many of us as were bap
tized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? ' The Lord's
supper, in the text. Both sacraments represent him dead; they do
not represent him glorified, but crucified. They were instituted in
favour of men, and for the benefit of man, more directly and imme
diately than for the honour of Christ exalted. In these duties he
representeth himself rather as one that procured the glory of others
than as one that is possessed of glory himself; and would have us
consider his death rather than his present exaltation. His death is
wholly for us. but his glory is for himself and us too. Only we
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26. 327
must distinguish between what is primarily represented in the sac
rament, and what is secondarily and consequentially. It is true the con
sideration of his humiliation excludeth not that of his exaltation, but
leadeth us to it. But primarily and properly Christ's death is here re
presented, and consequentially his resurrection and intercession, as these
acts of his mediation receive value from his death. We remember his
death as the meritorious cause of our justification and sanctification, his
resurrection as the public evidence : Kom. iv. 25, ' Who was delivered
for our offences, and was raised again for our justification/ Namely,
as his resurrection showeth his satisfaction is perfect, God requireth no
more for the atonement of the world. His intercession is nothing else
but a representation of the merit of his sacrifice, and receiveth its value
from his death: Heb. ix. 12, 'By his own blood he entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us ; ' that is, by
his own blood he entered into heaven, having purchased redemption
for us from the guilt and power of sin. Well, then, it appeareth from
the nature of the thing and the rites here used that Christ's body is
represented to us as dead and broken, and so proper food for our souls ;
and his blood as shed or poured out for the expiation of our sins, that
we might obtain pardon and peace : Eph. i. 7, ' In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the
riches of his grace ; ' Luke xxii. 20, ' This cup is the new testament in
my blood, which is shed for you.'
2. That we do not commemorate Christ's death as a tragical story,
but as a mystery of godliness. Many, when they come to these duties,
look upon Christ as an innocent person unworthily handled, and so make
a tragedy of his passion, for the entertainment of their fancies and the
lighter part of their affections, rather than for their faith to work upon,
their desire, joy, and thankfulness, or to stir up any deep repentance in
them. This remembrance produceth either compassion or indignation
against the Jews.
[1.] Compassion. Alas ! the history of Christ's passion will work
no more upon us than the sad preparation of Abraham when he went
to sacrifice his son Isaac, or the cries of Joseph in the pit, or the pitiful
words of Jacob when they told him that some beast had devoured him,
or than the sacking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, or how they
handled that miserable king Zedekiah, when they put out his eyes, or
the moans of Dido for JEneas ; Austin instanced in that, living in that
country: Quid miseriusTiomineJlenteDidonis mortem, et non miseriam
suam. All these things, though they be not of such importance as the
sufferings of the Son of God, will draw tears from us, and passionately
affect us for the time. Christ seemeth to disprove this fond compassion,
as it is acted and exercised towards himself : Lukexxiii. 28-31, ' Jesus
turning unto them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me ;
but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold the days
are coming in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and
the womb that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck : then
shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills,
Cover us ; for if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be
done in the dry ? ' The gospel doth not propound the death of Christ
as a spectacle of human calamity. No ; it is a point of higher con-
328 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26.
sideration, and God looketh for more inward and spiritual motions than
this passionate condoling.
[2.] So for indignation against the Jews. It is no more pleasing to
Christ than the other. Many Christians think it a piece of high
devotion to execrate the memory of Judas, and the other Jews who
were accessory to Christ's death ; but this, or somewhat like it, is dis
proved too. Peter was in a rage against Christ's adversaries, and
therefore out of bravery draweth his sword against a whole troop or
band of men, that came to attack him in the garden ; but Christ
saith, John xviii. 11, 'Put up thy sword into the sheath. The cup
which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ? ' No question
but great injustice was showed to Christ ; the Jews' fact was odious,
Judas' treason execrable ; but as our pity should be turned upon our
selves, so must our exasperation also. The gospel calleth for deeper
consideration of this mystery than what is historical ; namely, such as
is evangelical, and may suit with God's ends in it, and our faith in the
Mediator and Saviour of the world ; namely, the horror of our sins,
that they may become odious to us; the terror of God's impartial justice,
that we may never think a light thought of it more; the inestimableness
of God's love, that we may have more admiring thoughts of the wonders
of this condescending grace, in giving his Son to die for us; and of the
unspeakable benefit and the joy of salvation which is derived thence to
us. These are the true reflections on the death of Christ, and best serve
for the improvement of it; namely, to raise our hopes of mercy, engage
our thankfulness, and increase our hatred of sin. In short, two affec
tions are most proper and seasonable — mourning for sin, and rejoicing
in Christ.
(1.) Mourning for sin. When we call to remembrance the death of
Christ, the anguish of his soul, the bruises of his body, the effusion of
his blood, these are all occasions of godly sorrow. For, ' He hath borne
our griefs, and carried our sorrows ; and he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of
our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed,' Isa. liii. 4,
5. Therefore godly sorrow is seasonable so far as it is a means and
part of repentance. The Jews on the solemn day of atonement used
to afflict their souls on that day, as you may read, Lev. xxiii. 27-29-,
* On the tenth day of the seventh month it shall be a day of atonement;
it shall be an holy convocation unto you ; and ye shall afflict your
souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall
do no work on that day, for it is a day of atonement, to make an
atonement for you before the Lord your God : for whatsoever soul it
be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from
among his people.' Mark when this should be, at the day of expiation
or atonement and solemn reconciliation with God, that they might
have forgiveness of all their sins. Affliction of soul, or humiliation, is
inward, by godly sorrow for sin, 'which worketh repentance unto
salvation not to be repented of,' 2 Cor. vii. 10. It is done by judging
and loathing ourselves for the evils we have committed ; outwardly by
fasting and abstinence from all fleshly delights, which the Jews
observed with great rigour. I press it only as it was a sign of repent
ance. Then we best remember Christ crucified when we are crucified
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XL 26. 329
with him : Gal. ii. 20, ' I am crucified with Christ ; ' when the sensual
inclination is mortified, and the heart deadened to the pleasures of sin,
which are but for a season.
(2.) Rejoicing in Christ Jesus. The other tendeth to this, as a pre
paration to the solemn effect. And to repentance there must be joined
faith, which is an acceptance and acknowledgement of the benefits
procured and offered to us by Christ. Therefore we cannot receive
them so sealed, confirmed and applied, as they are in the Lord's supper,
without joy. We are invited to the Lord's table as to a feast, and
joy doth best become a holy feast. This ordinance was instituted
for our consolation, as being one of those solemn assurances given
to the heirs of promise. And their nature and use is to beget ' strong
consolation,' Heb. vi. 18. It is true we come to it with remorse, but
that by way of preparation, and for the quickening of our appetite ;
but the proper act wherein consisteth our communion with Christ and
his body and blood is the joy and contentment that the soul received
in that Christ died for us. Christ is not only propounded as dead, but
as dead for us, that his death may be our life, and a fountain of ever
lasting comfort to us. When we come to God's table, we eat and drink
in his presence, as those that are agreed with him, and reconciled to
him by Jesus Christ. And then, Eom. v. 11, ' We joy in God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, as those that have received the atonement.' So
Ps. xxii. 26, ' The meek shall eat and be satisfied ; they shall praise
the Lord that seek him ; your heart shall live for ever ; ' that is, the
poor humble Christian is revived and comforted by the eucharistical
spiritual food, and the vital effects thereof, of which by faith they are
made partakers. He speaketh there of paying his vows, and alludeth
to the peace-offerings when they feasted with their friends ; which is
fulfilled in the eucharist or commemorative feast which we observe in
the remembrance of Christ's death. These are the spiritual affections ;
we come with brokenness of heart, and go away with joy : Acts viii. 39,
.' And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord
caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on
his way rejoicing.'
3. The commemoration of Christ's death as a mystery of godliness
is done by a due consideration or reflection on the cause, occasion, and
benefits of it.
[1.] The first inward moving cause of all is the great love and
mercy of God to us : John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world, that he
gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life ; ' and 1 John iv. 10, ' Herein is love,
not that w* loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins.' This must not be overlooked, partly
because this is commended to us : Eom. v. 8, ' But God commendeth
his love to us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'
Some things may be told us, but this is commended that we may be
sure not to forget it. This was the great thing propounded to our
thoughts ; this gracious act and expression of God's mercy and bounty,
carried on in the most astonishing way, far beyond what we could con
ceive or imagine. And partly because this calleth for thankfulness,
the great principle of gospel obedience : 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, ' For the love
330 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26.
of Christ constraineth us ; because we thus judge, that if one died for
all, then were all dead ; and that he died for all, that they which live
•should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died
for them and rose again/ Yea, the life and soul of every duty, the
very design and tenor of the gospel, and the way of salvation by a
redeemer, is so ordered by God as to raise the highest thankfulness in
man, and that we might be deeply possessed with his love. Thankful
ness is the great duty of the gospel, and which containeth and animateth
all the rest ; for the gospel from first to last is a benefit : 1 Tim. vi.
2, ' Partakers of the benefit ; ' and therefore to be received with thank
fulness ; for what obedience is to a mere law, that is thankfulness to a
benefit. This duty is called evxapi(rria,OT an eucharist. The Lord Jesus
hath gone before us as a pattern : 1 Cor. xi. 24, ' When he had given
thanks, he brake it ; ' and ver. 25, ' After the same manner he took the
cup;' that is, giving thanks; -Mat. xxvi. 27, 'He took the cup, and
gave thanks.' And all because of that grace and bounty of God which
he came to discover to mankind, and would seal with his blood. Well,
then, this grace, love, and goodness of God, in giving his Son to die for
our sins, should never be overlooked by us, that all our acts may be
acts of thankfulness, our repentance may be a thankful repentance, our
love may most affect the heart with sin : Ezek. xvi. 63, ' Thou mayest
remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more,
because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee, for all that thou
hast done.5 Our faith a thankful acceptance of Christ and all his
benefits ; our obedience a thankful obedience, not out of fear of hell,
but gratitude ; all our duties but the thankful returns of Christ's
redeemed ones for the great love he hath showed to us. So for all
works of charity ; our giving an imitation of Christ, who loved us and
gave himself for us : 2 Cor. viii. 9, ' Though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich.'
^Forgiving ; so it is said, Eph. iv. 32, ' Forgiving one another, even as
-God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.' Our works of piety : wor-.
shipping God ; love should bring us into his presence, and his mercies
to us in Christ should be continual matter of praise and thanksgiving.
Our preaching ; love to God should sweeten the labours of it. Oh ! had
we a deeper sense of this great love that provided such a remedy for
us, we would feel the constraining influence of it in everything that
our hand findeth to do for God.
[2.] The next thing is the outward occasion or procuring cause,
which is our misery by reason of sin. He came to propitiate God,
offended by man's sin. Sin was the cause of enmity between God and
man, and did set us at such an infinite distance from him, that our
peace could be made no other way but by Christ's ' making his soul an
offering for sin,' Isa. liii. 10, and becoming ' a curse for us,' Gal. iii. 13.
Therefore, when we remember the agonies and death of Christ, we
should remember the odiousness of sin. To make light of sin is to
make light of the sufferings of Christ. The scripture often shows the
greatness of sin by the greatness of the price that was given to redeem
us from it : 1 Peter i. 18, 19, ' Ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, but with the
precious blood of Christ.' And this both in order to caution and humi-
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26. 331
liation. Caution : ver. 17, ' Pass the time of your sojourning here in
fear.: And humiliation : Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon the house
of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and supplication ; and they shall look on him whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and
shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first
born.' Before God would be propitious to sinners the Son of God
must be made man, and suffer and die to expiate our offences. Well,
then, is sin nothing, that sowed the seeds of that woful discord between
God and us, that he will have no communion with us till the blood of
Christ be shed to purge us from our sins ? Generally we have slight
and superficial apprehensions of sin, therefore we are not much troubled
for what is past, nor careful to avoid it for the time to come ; ye are
not deeply affected with what our Mediator hath done to deliver us
from it. 0 Christians ! without these bitter herbs, due thoughts of sin,
Christ our passover will not relish with us. Do but consider what
you conceive of wrongs done to you, how they provoke and stir your
passions, so that there is much ado to get you pacified. What heinous-
ness must there be in your offences against God, both as to the quality
of their nature, and their multiplicity both as to number and kind !
It is true God is free from passion, and is not troubled as your spirits
are ; but such is the provoking nature of sin that it crieth for ven
geance, and bringeth you under the dreadful sentence of divine wrath,
which would fall upon you with all its weight if Christ had not inter
posed and catched the blow. In short, the sinner is in a dreadful and
damnable condition by reason of sin ; but Christ bore our sins in his
own body on the tree, which should increase our thankfulness — for woe
be to us if we bear our own sin — and heighten our repentance, that we
may not provoke God for the future ; for you see satisfaction cannot be
easily made for the injury of sin. The ignorance of God's majesty and
holiness hath tempted the world to fancy some lesser expiations of sin
and satisfaction to God, by sacrifices of beasts, or penances, or such a
number of prayers or costly alms ; but the gospel teacheth us there is
no purgation of sin but only by the death of Jesus Christ.
[3.] The effects and fruits are pardon and life.
(1.) Pardon ; for God's justice being satisfied by Christ, he hath
granted a new covenant, wherein pardon is assured to the penitent
believer. We are told in what way and method sin is pardoned, upon
the account of Christ's death, if we in a broken-hearted manner con
fess it before God : 1 John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous
ness.' So Luke xxiv. 47, ' And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations.' Now this is no
small mercy to have sin pardoned.
(2.) The other benefit is life, begun in us by the Spirit, and per
fected in heaven. Consider it as begun in us by the Spirit in regener
ation. We have it by virtue of Christ's death : Titus iii. 5, 6, ' Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ
our Lord.' Or as perfected in heaven ; it is still the fruit of Christ's
332 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XL 26.
death : Heb. v. 9, ' Being made perfect, he became the author of
eternal salvation to all them that obey him.' Now these benefits
should be considered by us, because they are the matter of our faith
and trust. As God's love calleth for thankfulness, and the heinousness
of sin for repentance, so the benefits of Christ's death for faith and
affiance. God solemnly reacheth out to us the benefits contained in
the promises of the gospel as by a deed and instrument ; and we by
faith accept them, and by affiance depend on God for the performance
of them. In short, that Christ may give us the favour and image o£
God, and all the consequent privileges, free access to God for the pre
sent, and the full fruition of him in bliss and glory for the future.
Thus for the object.
Secondly, The act is annunciation, or showing forth This may be
considered with respect to the parties to whom we annunciate it, or
with respect to the properties or manner how it is to be annunciated.
1. With respect to the parties. We annunciate and show forth
Christ's death with respect to ourselves, that we may anew believe and
exercise our faith ; with respect to others, that we may solemnly pro
fess this faith in the crucified Saviour with a kind of glorying and
rejoicing ; with respect to God, that we may plead the merit of his
sacrifice with humility and affiance.
[1.] With respect to ourselves, to raise our faith in the crucified
Saviour ; for ' God hath set him forth to be a propitiation for our sins,
through faith in his blood,' Horn. iii. 25. We believe that by this
means the favour of God may be recovered, his image restored, eternal
life obtained, and all the mercy offered in the new covenant bestowed
upon us, according to the gracious terms thereof.
[2.] With respect to others, we annunciate it as we make public
profession of this faith, that we are not ashamed of Christ crucified,
but rather glory in it and in the blessed effects of his death : Gal. vi.
14, ' God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the
world.' We glory in this, that we are his peculiar people, distin
guished from the perishing world, as Goshen from Egypt, or those in
the ark from those who perished in the waters, or as Gideon's fleece
\vet with the dew from all the rest of the ground, or as Kahab's house
from the rest of Jericho. We own Christ, and Christ will own us.
You will say, What great matter is there in this profession where
all are Christians, among whom Christ's name is had in honour and
esteem ? I answer —
(1.) Never was it so well with the world but that somewhat of
Christ was called in question, and so the profession of his entire truth
may be dangerous and costly. Sometimes this truth and sometimes
that is contradicted and opposed ; and so it cometh to pass that self-
denial is a standing rule, never out of season ; and therefore we still
fortify ourselves by this duty to own the present truth, how much so
ever it be spoken against. Thus Paul gloried in Christ, in opposition
to the carnal policy of the false apostles, who gloried in the flesh, the
riches, pomp, and favour of the world, which ran of their side. But
we remember the cross of Christ to deaden our affections to the glory
and applause of the world.
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26. 333
(2.) This profession must be not in word only, but deed also. We
profess ourselves to be a peculiar people, redeemed from all iniquity
by Christ, to live to God and serve God. Now, if our conversation be
not answerable, we do not remember the blood of the covenant with
honour, but spill it on the ground, and ' trample it under our feet,'
Heb. x. 29, and destroy our profession by our conversation. As we
destroy our profession of God: Titus i. 16, 'They profess that they
know God, but in works they deny him.' So of Christ : 1 Tim. v. 8,
' If any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.' A mer
ciless man hath denied the faith. And Jer. ix. 25, 26, ' Let not the
wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his
might, let not the rich man glory in his riches ; but let him that
glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I
am the Lord, which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteous
ness in the earth ; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.' So
that our lives must be a hymn to Christ, or a constant glorying in
him. Great things are expected of the peculiar people : 1 Peter ii. 9,
* Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.' Well, then,
this annunciating the death of Christ before many witnesses is useful
to us in times of trouble, that we may be faithful to his interest, and
in times of peace, that we may be the more bound to all holy conver
sation and godliness.
(3.) We profess also ourselves to be partakers of the benefits of
Christ's death by a lively faith ; for the apostle tells us, 1 Cor. x. 21,
' Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils ; ye
cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils.' In
the Lord's supper we profess to be partakers of the body and blood of
Christ ; that is, the benefits of his death. And he had said before of
the Jews, ver. 18, ' They which eat of the sacrifices are partakers of
the altar ; ' they eat and drink with God at the altar. So eating and
drinking at the Lord's table is a sign of communion with Christ ; and
that we rejoice in this, that we are admitted into the participation of
the benefits and efficacy of his death. If we be unqualified and un
prepared to receive them, we mock God, and dishonour Christ.
[3.] We annunciate it to God. This we do two ways —
{I.) In a way of prayer, pleading before him the value of this
sacrifice, with humility and affiance, expecting the benefits thereof.
Christ's blood is pleaded by him in heaven by his constant intercession,
and by us upon earth in prayer, when we show the Father that sacrifice
once made by him, in which we trust, and for which we expect mercy
and grace to help us ; as the apostle beggeth grace through the blood
of the everlasting covenant : Heb. xiii. 20, 21, ' Now the God of peace,
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make ye perfect in every work to do his will, working in you that
which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be
glory for ever and ever, Amen.' And we sue out our pardon, and beg
the gift of the Spirit, in the name of our mediator and advocate,
334 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26.
(2.) In thanksgiving and praise to God for Jesus Christ and his
benefits : Eph. i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ.' Looking upon all blessings as streaming
to us in his blood, and the fruits of his mediatorial administration.
2. With respect to the properties and manner how it is to be an
nunciated.
[1.] It must be serious. In spiritual things the heart is not soon
wrought upon, or else the sacred impressions are easily defaced;
glances have no fruit and efficacy to warm the heart. As birds that
often straggle from their nests suffer their eggs to grow chill and cold,
but when they sit long, the brood is hatched ; so by a constant incuba
tion we profit most, and these things sink deeper into our hearts. It
is true the things represented are great things, and so force their way
into our minds whether we will or no ; but yet they are spiritual, and
depend on faith, therefore some entertainment and serious consider
ation is necessary : Heb. iii. 1, ' Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus.' The heart of man catcheth like tinder at
every spark when sin is represented, but it is otherwise in holy and
heavenly things. They that do not use to command their thoughts
make less earnings certainly than others who are not of such a light
and unsettled mind. It is said, Zech. xii. 10, ' They shall look upon
him whom they have pierced ; ' which implieth a steady consideration,
otherwise we are in danger to go as we came. There is not that lively
commemoration of Christ. You come full of other cares, desires, and
delights, and therefore return empty of all solid and true refreshment.
[2.] It must be applicative : Gal. ii. 20, ' He loved me, and gave-
himself for me.' This great love which God hath manifested in Christ
is not only sounded in our ears and represented to our eyes, but is
brought home to us, and ' shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
given to us,' Rom. v. 5. The Spirit accompanieth Christ's institutions,
and the diligent, serious, hungry soul is not left destitute. Christ and
his benefits are nowhere so particularly offered, applied, and sealed
to us as in this duty. Christ's messengers offer him to us in particular,
with a charge and command that we should receive him, take and eat
for our own comfort and use. What is particularly applied to us, and
made ours, as food that is turned into our substance, should awaken in
us greater thoughts and care about our own interest.
[3.] Practical. The effects must more sensibly appear. Two ways
is that done —
(1.) When we are made partakers of his benefits, when we are
justified and sanctified : Heb. x. 22, ' Let us draw near with a true
heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.' The annuncia
tion inferreth this. Then it is practical when it assureth our confidence :
Eom. viii. 32, ' He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ? '
And we are encouraged to wait for the accomplishing of these ends,
and instating.us in these privileges.
(2.) When we express more likeness to Christ, in dying to sin and
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26. 335
to the world, or suffering for righteousness. Dying to sin and the
world : Gal. ii. 20, ' I ain crucified with Christ ; ' Gal. v. 24, ' They
that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and ,
lusts/ Or suffering for righteousness : Phil. iii. 10, ' That I may
know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.' For as Christ
came to destroy the desires of the carnal life, so to wean us from the
interests of the animal life. Sacraments bind us to this : Mat. xx.
22, ' Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be
baptized with the baptism that J am baptized with ? '
II. Confirmation, or reasons why the Lord's supper is a comme
moration of Christ's death.
1. To supply the room of his bodily presence : 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom
having not seen, ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory ; ' and la
the text, ' Ye show forth the Lord's death till he come.' Christ is not
bodily present in the church till the last judgment ; and we are to con
tinue this holy festival till the time that we shall have no need of these
memorials, because then he cometh in person.
2. It is a lively objective means to affect our hearts. Both in regard
of what is represented; Christ is, as it were, evidently set forth
' Crucified before our eyes,' Gal. iii. 1 ; and also in regard of what is
required to" be done on our parts, that we should return to our^duty,
and devote ourselves to God's service : Kom. xii. 1, ' I beseecn you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service.'
Use. To press you to the duty of the text, ' To show forth Christ's
death.'
1. It is the strongest support to faith. When we apprehend the
greatness and heinousness of sin, the righteousness of God, and purity
of his holiness, what shall compensate that infinite wrong which is
done to his majesty ? If it seem easy to us, we do not know what sin
is, and what God is. Not what sin is, which is a depreciation of God,
and a contempt of his majesty. There is no petty creature above an- •
other but he is jealous of his honour, and will vindicate himself from
contempt. Nor what God is. God is of pure holiness ; his nature en-
gageth him to loathe sin, his justice to punish it. It is a difficult case
questionless, how to get sin expiated, but this wonderful condescension
will make this difficulty cease ; the person is great, and the way wonder
ful. Consider what a person hath undertaken this, and what he hath
done ; he hath died for us, which at once showeth God's willingness to
pardon. And an answerable ransom ; that such an one should undertake
for us, so beloved of God, so equal to God : Phil. ii. 6, 7, ' Who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men.' This will settle and calm the
heart,1 that such an one should come about such a work.
2. It is the greatest incentive to love that ' Christ loved us, and gave
himself for us, a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour,' Eph. v.
2. Those innumerable angels that left their station, and were once in
336 SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26.
dignity above us, have not such glad tidings to impart to one another,
or to show forth in their societies ; not such a word to comfort them
selves withal. They cannot annunciate the death of Christ, and say,
Lo ! there is our confidence and hope, the propitiation for our sins.
3. It is a powerful persuasive to obedience. Shall we deny ourselves
to him that gave himself to and for us ? or seek to frustrate him of his
end ? This was his great end : 1 Peter ii. 21, ' For even hereunto
were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps.' He hath purchased grace to mortify
sin, and to quicken us to the fruits of holiness ; shall we be alive to sin,
and dead to righteousness ?
SERMON UPON MALACHI III. IT.
And I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth
him. — MAL. iii. 17.
THESE words are part of the promise which God maketh to them that
fear him, or to those who are good in evil times. In them take notice
of—
1. The blessing promised, that God will spare them.
2. The manner of this indulgence, amplified and set forth by the
carriage of a father to his son ; wherein a double reason of this indul
gence is intimated —
[1.] Propriety, 'His own son.'
[2.] Towardliness, or obedience, his son ' that serveth him.' Parents
are not severe to any of their children, especially the dutiful.
[1.] Propriety, ' His own son.' A faulty child is. a child still, and
therefore not so easily turned out of the family as a servant. We often
forget the duty of children, but God doth not forget the mercy of a
father. A prodigal child hath some encouragement from his relation,
though his manners be not answerable : Luke xv. 18, ' I will arise and
go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against
heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son ;
make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his
father ; but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and
had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him.' A
father will not be severe to a returning prodigal, as God is not to peni
tent sinners.
[2.] But this is not all ; it is not a prod%8& son, a rebellious son,
that is here considered, who by Moses' law might be turn<B|U>ut of doors
and stoned : Deut. xxi. 18-21, ' If a man have a stubbojg&nd rebel
lious son, that will not obey the voice of his father, or thwtfoice of his
mother, and when they have chastened him, will not hearken to*' them ;
then shall his father and mother lay hold on him, and bring him out
unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place ; and they
shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and
rebellious ; he will not obey our voice ; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he shall die.'
Such a law did God make against disobedience to parents. And if
children put off all respect of natural duty, parents were to put off all
bowels and compassion towards them. But this is not the case here ; it
is a good child that is here spoken of : ' His own son that serveth him.'
When a son is dutiful for the main, a parent will not be harsh and
VOL. XVIII. Y
338 SERMON UPON MALACHI IIL 17.
severe to him upon every failing. Whatever men are to slaves, or to
the children of others who serve them, yet they cannot so divest them
selves of the heart of a parent as to be inexorable to their own children,
and correct them severely for a lesser fault. This is the expression
that God useth to set forth his indulgence and compassion towards them
that fear him.
Doct. That God's sparing his children, notwithstanding their mani
fold infirmities, is one of the choice privileges of them that fear
him.
I shall discuss this point in this method — (1.) I will show you what
it is to spare ; (2.) That this is a choice privilege ; (3.) The grounds
and reasons of this indulgence or sparing that he useth towards them ;
(4.) The qualification of the persons.
I. What it is to spare them. It is seen on two occasions — when he
cometh to accept them, and when he cometh to afflict them ; in accept
ing their imperfect services, and not correcting them at all, or correcting
them in measure and in mercy.
1. Sometimes sparing is spoken of in scripture with respect to some
judgment to be inflicted, and so it is an act flowing from mercy,
withdrawing or moderating deserved judgments ; for we by sin deserve
the sharpest dispensations of God's anger and wrath, and so God is
said to spare, as withholding or withdrawing the judgment : Joel ii.
17, ' Spare thy people, 0 Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach.'
Sometimes as moderating, when he doth not stir up all his wrath ; as
it is sweet to find mercy remembered in wrath, and that he will mode
rate the judgment to us, and make it more sufferable: Ezra ix. 13,
' Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve.'
2. At other times sparing is spoken of with respect to a duty to be
accepted. We need to be spared in our best actions, they being defective
and defiled. Nehemiah prayeth, Neh. xiii. 22, ' Remember me, 0 my
God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of
thy mercy.' He speaketh this when he had procured God's holy
ordinances to be duly observed ; he pleadeth no merit before God, but
desireth rather to be spared and forgiven, for he was conscious to his
own many failings. Well, then, God spareth when he forgiveth our
sins, and pardoneth the manifold imperfections of our services.
II. That this is a choice privilege. So it will appear to be if we
consider — (1.) The holy nature of God ; (2.) The strictness and purity
of his law, both as to the precept and sanction ; (3.) Our incapacity of
appearing in the judgment; (4.) The sense which conscience hath of
sin. All these must be considered, because usually men heal their
wounds slightly, and afterwards they fester into a more dangerous sore.
And again, we are not affected with God's pardoning mercy, because
we do not see with what difficulty it is brought about.
1. The holy nature and justice of God. His nature inclineth him to
hate sin, and his justice to punish it: Josh. xxiv. 19, ' Ye cannot serve
the Lord, for he is an holy God, he is a jealous God ; he will not forgive
your transgressions, nor your sins. This he speaketh not to discourage
them, but that they might not have slight thoughts of God and his-
service, as if he would be put off with anything, and would lightly
and easily pardon their errors : Hab. i. 13, ' Thou art of purer eyes than
SERMON UPON MALACHI III. 17. 339
to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity ; ' that is, without taking
vengeance of it. The least sin is an offence to God so pure and holy :
1 Sam. vi. 20, ' Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God ? ' that
is, this God who is so jealous of his institutions. All this is mentioned
to show that God doth not make little reckoning of sin, and that which
lesseneth the benefit of pardon in our thoughts is usually some abasing
of the nature of God. It is not from magnifying his mercy, as it is
discovered in Christ and the new covenant, but from some wrong
conceit of God, as if he were not so just and holy as he is represented
to be : Ps. 1. 21, ' These things hast thou done, and I kept silence ; thou
thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thyself/ Because he doth
not always inflict punishment, they think sin is no such great matter,
and not so hateful to God as indeed it is. Oh no ! God, that is so
willing to spare his people notwithstanding their infirmities, doth not
cease to be holy, nor his law leave off to be righteous ; therefore this
is the means to heighten this privilege.
2. The purity and strictness of his law, both as to the precept and
sanction.
[1.] The precept, which reacheth to the soul and the operations of
every faculty, thoughts, purposes, and desires, as well as words and
actions. Therefore when David had admired the purity of the law, he
adds, Ps. xix. 12, 'Who can understand his errors ? Cleanse thou me
from secret faults.5 Oh ! the multitude of our errors that we know, and
the multitude of them we know not ! But God knoweth them. How
imperfect is our obedience ! How many times have we transgressed
this holy law of God ! Many failings we do not observe, and those
which we do observe we are not able to enumerate. If we were to be
judged by this law, the holiest and the humblest, the most penitent,
and believing soul, and the soul that most loveth God, cannot abide
the trial ; and were it not for this promise and its fellows, what could we
look for but eternal ruin ?
[2.] As to the sanction, the law saith, ' The soul that sinneth shall
die/ Ezek. xviii. 4. Now this being the sentence of God delivered in a
righteous law, how shall we escape it ? Surely it cannot fall to the
ground ; unless some provision be made, it will eternally take place.
This should the more affect us, because it is often verified in the course
of God's providence: Horn. i. 18, 'For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
hold the ' truth in unrighteousness ; ' Heb. ii. 2, ' For if the word
spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward/ Now, when others are punished
and we are spared, surely we ought to be affected with his severity
towards them, but towards us goodness.
3. Our incapacity of appearing before God by reason of the multi
tude of our sins. There are none of God's children but have a great
and vast debt upon them ; and if God should call them to an account,
and should not spare, not one of them could stand or appear in court :
Ps, cxxx. 3, 4, ' If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, 0 Lord, who
shall stand ? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
feared/ There is not a man to be found who hath not some fault and
failing which would render him incapable of God's favour. If he should
340 SERMON UPON MALACHI III. 17.
proceed in just severity against us, who could stand ? Not, Who
among the wicked ? but, Who among the regenerate, or the people of
God ? so many are the frailties and slips of their lives ; and Ps. cxliii.
2, 'Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no
man living be justified.' It is impossible for such a frail, sinful,
imperfect creature as man is to appear before God's exact tribunal with
any comfort and hope. But he will not charge them on us with
severity, but spare us with mercy.
4. The sense which conscience hath of these sins.
[1.] Consider it in its old natural bondage, somewhat of which yet
remaineth while sin remaineth. So conscience accuseth of the sins that
are committed : Rom. ii. 15, ' Which show the work of the law written
in their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts
the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.' And fears the
death threatened : Eom. i. 32, ' Who knowing the judgment of God,
that they which commit such things are worthy of death.' Now can it
be appeased unless the Lord spare, or set up some way of grace which
alloweth pardon for our failings ? And if the Lord spare, it should be
as welcome to us as a pardon to a condemned man.
[2.] Consider it as it is enlightened and renewed by the Holy Spirit.
It is true it doth not produce such a fear of wrath as before, but a
greater apprehension of the evil of sin, because of the increase of light
and love, both which entender the heart. As their light and love
increase, so doth their trouble about sin : Eom. vii. 9, ' For I was alive
without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived,
and I died ; ' and ver. 24, ' 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death ? ' They are ashamed of that
folly and filthiness and unkindness that is in sin, and are grieved for
the relics of corruption : Ezek. xvi. 6, ' And when I passed by thee, and
saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, Live ; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood,
Live.' So Eom. vi. 21, 'What fruit had ye then in those things,
whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of those things is death.'
Therefore if God will spare, and not impute their trespasses to them,
they are more apprehensive of this mercy, than possibly others can be.
None see so many sins, and none see such heinousness in sin, and are
more deeply affected with it. In a clear glass of water the least mote
is espied. They have a greater dread of God's holiness, a more sincere
respect to his law, a greater reverence for the sentence of it, a more
firm belief of his threatenings, a more earnest desire to please him, and
so a greater grief for offending him. Therefore if he will pardon and
pass by their infirmities, they are the more apprehensive of the
privilege.
III. The grounds and reasons of this indulgence or sparing which
God useth towards them.
1. God's merciful nature, which inclineth him to pass by the infirm
ities of his saints. This appeareth by the description of God given to
Moses, when the Lord proclaimed his name: Exod. xxxiv. 6, 'The
Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and
abundant in goodness and truth.' Since this is the description which
God giveth of himself, therefore it deserveth to be weighed by us.
SERMON UPON MALACHI III. 17. 341
The first notion is merciful, whereby God's nature inclineth him to
succour those that are in misery by reason of sin. The next is
gracious, which implieth his self-inclination to do good to his creatures,
without any precedent obligation on their parts. The third is long-
suffering, or slowness to anger ; he is not hasty to revenge the wrongs
done him by the creature. He often pitieth wicked men, so far as to
prevent the temporal punishment, and spareth them long when he
might destroy them. The last is, ' abundant in goodness and truth ; '
that is, expressing his kindness and bounteous nature many ways;
not at one time and in one sort only, but upon all occasions, and in all
ways wherein we stand in need of his help, and therefore will deal
tenderly with his people : Micah vii. 8, ' Who is a God like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the rem
nant of his heritage ? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he
delighteth in mercy.' If we had a due sense of the nature of God, we
should have much relief against the evil merit of sin, and a greater
hope that he will deal in a fatherly manner with us. He had told
them of great things God would do for them ; now in the apprehension
of the sensible sinner, it is sin chiefly which standeth in the way of
their mercies ; therefore God will pardon sin in his people in such a
wonderful way as shall exceed all their thoughts. He will not call
them to a strict account for them, and though he beginneth to reckon
with them, yet he will spare them, and moderate his anger, and be
reconciled to them. It shall not go on to eternal wrath, nor over-long
temporal evils; and all because of the pleasure which he taketh in
showing acts of mercy rather than acts of vengeance.
2. The satisfaction of Christ, ' Whom God has set forth to be a pro
pitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, Rom.
iii. 25. In him God will satisfy his justice, and accept of the believing
penitent. He spared not his Son that he might spare us : Eom. viii.
32, ' He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all ; '
Isa. liii. 10, ' It pleased the Lord to bruise him, and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hand.' In the same verse Christ's bruises
and our salvation are called ' the pleasure of the Lord.' The Lord was
willing of both, and well content with both.
3. His gracious covenant, which may be considered — (1.) As to the
terms or conditions it requires ; (2.) As to the penalties which God
hath reserved a liberty to inflict.
[1.] As to the terms or conditions propounded. It requireth per
fection, and accepteth of sincerity. It requires perfection : Gen. xvii.
1, ' I am the Almighty God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect.'
Surely the covenant of grace requireth perfection, for the righteous law
is adopted into the frame of it as the rule of our duty ; otherwise our
defects were no sins, and otherwise allowed failings were consistent
with sincerity ; and where shall we then stop ? otherwise we were not
obliged to strive after perfection ; for it were only a work of super
erogation, not of necessary duty to press towards the mark. Therefore
certainly it doth invite us to the highest degree of goodness, and
maketh perfection itself our duty. And there is mercy in it, that our
duty and happiness may agree, and we may not have liberty to be bad
342 SERMON UPON MALACHI III. 17.
and miserable, but ever bound to our own felicity, which consisteth in
an exact conformity to God, and the most perfect subjection to him.
But yet it accepteth of sincerity. If our hearts be upright with God,
and set to obey, please, and glorify him, and we make it our main work
so to do, God will not enter into judgment with his servants, nor be
strict to his children, nor condemn those that love and fear him : 2
Chron. xxx. 18-20, ' But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good
Lord pardon every one that pr epareth his heart to seek God, the Lord
God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purifi
cation of the sanctuary. And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and
healed the people.' Therefore he taketh not advantage of our infir
mities to ruin us. Indeed, as the covenant commanded perfection, it
noteth our infirmities, to humble us, in order to our cure ; but as it
accepteth of sincerity, Christ looketh not to our infirmities as a judge,
but as a tender physician, to rid us of them, and free us from them
more and more.
[2.] As to the afflictions and penalties, which God hath reserved a
liberty to inflict, notwithstanding the new covenant, they all infer his
sparing of us ; for they are but temporal evils, when we have deserved
eternal ; and the temporal evil is sent to prevent eternal. It is
true they are merited by our sin, but yet they turn to our, good ;
they are in themselves the effects of God's displeasure, and parts of
our misery, but by them he speaketh to the conscience of a sinner,
and sealeth instruction to our hearts, that we no longer deal
perversely ; for the rod hath a voice : Micah vi. 9, ' Hear ye the rod,
and who hath appointed it.' In short, they are in themselves, and in
their own nature, evils of punishment ; but their property is changed,
and so they are acts of God's faithfulness : Ps. cxix. 75, ' I know, 0
Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast
afflicted me ; ' and they are sent to us as a needful medicine : Isa. xxvii.
9, ' By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the
fruit to take away his sin ; ' and are profitable acts of God's fatherly
discipline : Heb. xii. 10, ' For they verily for a few days chastened us
after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be par
takers of his holiness.' Mercy turneth them to our benefit. It is our part
to seek after the benefit ; it is God's part to give it, and to remove the
affliction, and that is his sparing. Hie ure, hie seca, modo in cetemum
parcas ; or, Burn me, or cut me, or do what thou wilt with me here,
so thou spare me as to eternal punishment, said one of the ancients.
4. From his comfortable relation to us. He is our Father, and a
father will not be severe to his children, partly out of instinct of nature,
which inclineth the brutes to their young ones, till they can shift for
themselves; and partly from reason, which should guide men, they
being our own flesh, blood, and bone, a new and second self; the
child is the father multiplied, and the father continued ; and partly
out of conscience of God's command, who hath enjoined this duty on
parents, to be tender of their children. Now if God be our Father,
and will take the relation upon himself, he will do whatever this rela
tion implieth : Ps. ciii. 13, ' Like as a father pitieth his children, so
the Lord pitieth those that fear him/ Yea, whatever is in the creature
is ascribed to God per modum eminentice — by way of eminency ; tarn
SERMON UPON MALACHI III. 17. 343
pater nemo — no one is so much a father as God : Luke xi. 13. ' If ye
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask him ? ' So in the present case —
[1.] There is sparing as to acceptance. A father, if there be any
blemish in his child, he will pity it, and cover it. He accepteth in
good part the willingness of his son to serve him, though he, through
weakness, fail in the exact manner of performance ; so our heavenly
Father accepteth of a willing and honest heart, though we come short
of that perfection required in the law. His choice servants have had
their blemishes, yet their merciful Father giveth them this commend
ation, that they have walked before him with a perfect heart. So doth
God to David, Asa, and Jehoshaphat : 1 Kings xv. 5, ' David did that
which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from
anything which he commanded him, save only in the matter of Uriah.
The brand of that wilful sin sticketh upon him, but other things are
passed by.
[2.] There is God's sparing as to punishment and correction. It is
true that God hath reserved a liberty to scourge his children, but still
he doth it as a father : Heb. xii. 6, ' For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.' To spare
the rod is to spoil the child, but still he useth it as a father; which
is seen, partly because he cometh to it unwillingly. There are tears
in his eyes, as it were, when the rod is in his hand : Lam. iii. 33, ' He
doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.' And
partly because he doth it in measure, and with great moderation. In
chastising his people, he dealeth otherwise with his people than others,
to whom he hath not the like respect or relation. He debateth with
them in measure, or with much moderation, meting out their suffer
ings in a due proportion : Isa. xxvii. 8, ' In measure when it shooteth
forth thou wilt debate with it ; he stayeth the rough wind in the day
of the east wind.' He dealeth with them as a father, with others as a
judge ; with the one out of love, with the other out of vindictive
wrath : Jer. x. 24, ' 0 Lord correct me, but with judgment, not in
thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.' With his people not
according to the strict rule of law and justice, but according to his
wisdom and love. And lastly, because he soon relenteth.' Jer. xxxi.
20, ' Is Ephrairn my dear son ? is he a pleasant child ? for since I
spake against him I do earnestly remember him still ; therefore my
bowels are troubled for him ; I will surely have mercy upon him,
saith the Lord.' What ! is my dear son, my darling child, in such a
sad condition ? are these the moanings of Ephraim ? surely I am
mindful of him, my bowels are towards him, as those of a mother
towards her tender child. Thus God showeth himself a father.
IV. The qualification of the persons to whom God maketh this
promise, in the context, ' They that feared the Lord and thought upon
his name ; ' those whom God owneth for his peculiar people. See
the same qualification, Ps. ciii. 13, ' Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth those that fear him.'
1. It is necessary for them ; for the best need to be spared, as a
father spareth his own son that serveth him, or else what would become
344 SERMON UPON MALACHI III. IT.
of them ? If they were not under such a pardoning covenant, how
could they maintain any peace in their own souls, being guilty of so
many daily failings, which they resent more tenderly than others do
fouler faults ? and that they are also more sensible of the effects of his
anger in his providence ; for they dare not despise the chastening of
the Lord, but have a greater reverence for their Father's anger than
the rest of the world have ; and therefore the Lord expresseth his
indulgence, for their comfort and satisfaction. Those that walk most
closely with God, and exactly according to rule, need peace and
mercy : Gal. vi. 16, ' As many as walk according to this rule, peace
be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.' We still stand
in need of mercy, free and undeserved mercy, that our failings may be
pardoned, our persons and duties accepted, our afflictions moderated,
and we may be accepted and go to heaven at last.
2. It is peculiar to them. There is a conditional offer of pardon to
the wicked if they will repent, but fatherly dealing and indulgence is
assured to those who are admitted into God's family. He hath a
paternal affection towards them, and they have filial dispositions
towards him ; and though he doth express his common goodness and
bounty to all his creatures, yet his special and fatherly love is to his
saints, to whom he hath given a new being and an holy nature. The
whole commerce that is between God and them, on God's part is
fatherly, on their part childlike ; on God's part in a way of grace and
love, pardoning their sins and frailties ; and their carriage is loving
and obedient unto God. Love is at the bottom of God's dispensations
towards them, and at the bottom of their duty unto God. He loveth
them as a father, and they love him as dear children. Fatherly
benefits are fullest, sweetest, and surest, and filial duty is the choicest.
Now those that are not children cannot look for a child's portion.
Certainly the obstinate and impenitent are excluded : Deut. xxix. 20,
' The Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord and his
jealousy shall smoke against .that man, and all the curses that are
written in this book shall lie upon him.' But if any fear him and
serve him, they may hope for his mercy : Ps. cxlvii. 11, ' The -Lord
taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy/
They that live in a constant obedience to his commands, and an holy
trust and affiance in him, not by any tenure of merit in themselves,
but free and undeserved mercy in him, they are spared, they are
accepted, yea, they are blessed, and God delights in their welfare.
3. It is congruous, proper, and suitable ; for this is God's end in
sparing, that he may be reverenced and feared: Ps. cxxx. 4, 'But-
there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.' Hb
intended forgiveness as a new foundation of obedience, love, and
thankfulness ; that we should love him more, because forgiven ; be the
more holy because pardoned ; as ' she loved much because much was
forgiven her/ Luke vii. 47. Contempt and commonness of spirit in
dealing with God is the worst use we can make of it. Therefore if
there be no love to God, nor reverence of him, nor delight in him, if
you take the more liberty to sin upon a hope that God will spare you,
and not be so severe to you, though you indulge yourselves in pleasing;
the flesh, these abuse his grace, and turn it into wantonness ; some
SERMON UPON MALACHI III. 17. 345.
more openly, others more secretly ; as they are leavened with this taint,
they draw encouragements from it to sin and folly ; whereas the true
temper is, to 'fear the Lord and his goodness/ Hosea iii. 4; to have
a deeper reverence of God because of his goodness in the new cove
nant; and his pardoning mercy should be the great engagement to
gospel obedience.
Use 1. Is caution and warning to the people of God, that they do
not entertain jealousies of God, as one that watcheth all opportunities
and advantages against us to punish us, as if he seemed to be glad at
our halting. No ; this is a blasphemy against his holy and gracious-
nature, and a flat contradiction to the discoveries and expressions of
his love in his covenant. Yet such thoughts are wont to haunt us.
Job's words import little less: Job iv. 16, 17, 'For now thou num-
berest my steps ; dost thou not watch over my sin ? my transgression
is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.' He speaketh
as if God severely marked, and would strictly call his people to an
account for all their sins. This apprehension of God's severe dealing
is very natural to us in our sore affliction ; for Job so speaketh as if
God had strictly marked all his sin, and kept the record sealed up in
a bag, to make out his process against him.
Object. But what other thoughts can we have when troubles come
thick and threefold, and God seemeth to be reckoning with us for our
transgressions ?
Ans. 1. God's sparing mercy may sometimes be concealed, and not
always visibly expressed to the sense of the believer, and faith should
see mercy in God's heart when his hand is heavy and smart upon us ••
Job x. 13, ' These things hast thou hid in thine heart ; I know that
this is with thee/ What things ? Life, and favour, and gracious
supports, and visits of his love, mentioned in the former verse. God's
children encourage themselves with his hidden favour, though to
appearance God covereth himself with wrath and frowns. His present
severity cannot persuade them that all his mercy is lost, and clean gone
and forgotten. They can see it in God's heart, though they see it not
in his hand, and it be not visible to their own sense. Though they
feel him as an enemy, yet they will trust him as a friend. They know
he will spare them, even then when he pursueth them with the strokes
of his wrath ; for articles of faith are not to be laid aside because of the
contradiction of sense.
2. There is some sparing even in his striking ; for if he bring one
evil to prevent a greater evil, to save us from eternal misery, that is
mercy. He striketh for a while that he may spare for ever : 1 Cor. XL.
32, ' For when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we
may not be condemned with the world.' A man would be pulled out
of the deep waters, though it be by the hair of his head, and his arm
broken in the rescue. If he take away any good thing from us to
bestow some greater good, we have no cause to complain ; for surely
the greater should be preferred before the lesser, and the felicity of the
soul in grace and glory should be preferred before the good of the body.
God had neither spared nor saved any if he had not blasted their
worldly happiness. Surely God doth not envy to us our worldly com
forts, but taketh them from us when they are likely to do us hurt.
346 SERMON UPON MALACHI III. 17.
Use 2. To show us the privilege of them that fear God, or have a
sonlike and childlike affection to him. He speaketh not here of the
first grace infused into the penitent, but of those that are already
admitted into his family. Surely their privilege is exceeding great.
1. They need not be discouraged in their duties though they be im
perfect. God will not call them to a strict account. Christ, when he
feasts with his spouse, ' he will eat the honey with the honeycomb,'
Cant. v. 1 ; he accepts all heartily. He that forgave all their sins at
first will excuse their infirmities. They shall be tenderly dealt withal,
and their failings passed over, as a parent passeth over an escape in
an obedient son. Alas ! if God did not spare us for our best works
and choicest services, who could stand ? Our duties need a pardon as
well as those actions which are downright sins, for they are mixed
with sin.
2. That he will spare us as to afflictions and judgments.
[1.] Sometimes God may spare others for their sakes, as he offereth
to spare Sodom if there were fifty righteous persons found in it :
Gen. xviii. 26, ' If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, I will
spare all the place for their sakes.' Afterwards the number was brought
down to ten, ver. 32. So God gave to Paul the lives of all that sailed
with him in the ship, Acts xxvii. 24, though in that imminent danger,
for his sake.
[2.] When he cometh to reckon with the nation, or the community
in which they live, he many times spared them, and they are not swept
away in the common judgment : Isa iii. 10, ' Say ye to the righteous,
It shall be well with him/ God will put a difference between them
and others ; not always, but when he pleaseth. God may protect them
in calamitous times. The Lord knows how to do it, how to make dis
tinctions : 2 Peter ii. 9, ' The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptation.'
[3.] If they are involved in the common judgment (as two dry sticks
may set a green on fire), they may see some moderation and glimpses
of favour : Hab. iii. 2, ' That in the midst of wrath God remembers mercy.'
Either it is sanctified, or they are supported under it, or the evil is
mitigated.
[4.] If the worst fall out, yet they are spared, because they are not
cast into hell. If they are not exempted from temporal judgments, yet
they are delivered from wrath to come ; and that should satisfy chris-
tians : Heb. x. 39, ' We believe to the saving of the soul ; ' 1 Peter i. 9,
'Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Though
the body and its interests be endamaged, yet the soul is saved, which is
our great hope.
Use 3. Is to instruct us in our duty with respect to this choice
privilege.
1. Let us be affected with the love of God, that he will spare us as
a man spareth his own son. If God should deal with us according to
the merit of our sins, and be strict upon us, what would become of the
best of us. Surely God seeth all our failings : Heb. iv. 12, ' All things
are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do ; '
and doth disallow them, and is displeased with them : 2 Sam. xi. 27,
' But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.' If you deny
SERMON UPON MALACHI III. 17. 347
the first, you deny his being ; if you deny the second, you debase his
holiness and righteousness. And his law condenineth them as worthy
of punishment : Gal. iii. 10, ' Cursed is every one that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.'
Whence then cometh our safety ? From the new covenant founded in
Christ's blood, by which the sentence of condemnation is vacated :
Rom. viii. 1, ' There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ.'
This sentence is repealed by a new act of God's great mercy and favour
in the new covenant.
2. Let us believe the certainty of it on the grounds before mentioned,
viz., the merciful nature of God. The design of the gospel is to repre
sent him amiable to man: 1 John iv. 8, 'God is love.' The satisfaction
of Christ : 1 John iv. 10, ' God sent his Son to be a propitiation for our
sins.' His gracious covenant : Ps. xxv. 10, 'All the paths of the Lord
are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant.' His fatherly
goodness : Jer. iii. 4, ' Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My
father, thou art the guide of my youth ? '
3. Keep your qualification clear. Besides the ransom, our uprightness
must be interpreted : Job xxxiii. 23, 24, ' If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his upright
ness then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going
down into the pit, for I have found a ransom.' If we do not continue to
fear God, or abate our reverence towards him, we lose our comfort. There
fore, if you would stand right in God's favour, our love and fear must
be increased towards this good God ; and if he will stand upon the
exactness of his law, we must not stand upon our own interests and the
gratifications of the flesh. We should not spare anv beloved lust or
interest, so we may please and glorify God.
SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY H. 19.
Nevertheless the foundation of God slandeth sure, having this seal,
The Lord knoweth them that are his ; and, Let every one that
nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. — 2 TIM. ii. 19.
THESE words are brought in to prevent the scandal which the godly
might take at the falling away of two such men as Hymeneus and
Philetus, who in probability were men of note in the church; for there
is not such notice taken of ordinary and mean persons. Their error
was, they acknowledged only a metaphorical resurrection, and so weak
ened the comfort of the faithful. The scandal which they gave was
threefold — scandalum seductionis contristationis qffensionis.
1. There was scandalum seductionis : ver. 18, ' They overthrow the
faith of some,' fides quo? creditur. It is principally meant, they turned
them away from the truth.
2. There was scandalum contristationis. They were a great trouble
to the faithful, and weakened their comfort ; as surely it is a mighty
disheartening to see such glorious luminaries fall from heaven like
lightning. Some think the main drift of the text is to comfort them
with an hope of preservation though these fell away. When others
fall, those who are truly the Lord's, and do unfeignedly dedicate them
selves to be his people, shall be preserved by his power, because the
foundation, or first stone of this spiritual building, was laid in their
election, which is firm and unchangeable. I am not against this sense,
because I find election to be made the ground of our standing out in
temptations : Mat. xxiv. 24, ' Insomuch that, if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect.' The elect cannot possibly be deceived
and drawn away from the true Christ, because of the wisdom, love, and
power of God engaged for them : 2 Thes. ii. 13, ' God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctifieation of the Spirit,
and belief of the truth. Their election did secure them from damnable
errors. I am not against this truth, yet I think it not the full mean
ing of this place, though strongly implied in it. Truly the apostle doth
confirm the hearts of the faithful in these words, by showing them their
privileges and their duty : their privileges, when he telleth them that
' God knoweth them that are his ; ' their duty, when he presseth them
to holiness : ' Le£ every one that nameth the name of Christ depart
from iniquity.' The apostasy of some should excite all to watchfulness,
lest they be caught in the same snare. But yet I cannot induce myself.
SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY II. 19. 349
to think that by the foundation of God is meant his election ; and it is
.an hard thing to conceive that a foundation of a building should be
sealed.
3. There is scandalum offensionis. It might make them to stumble,
and take offence, and raise a scandal of prejudice, or doubtfulness at
least — (1.) Against the truth of the gospel; (2.) The honour of the
church. The latter scandal is obviated in the 20th verse : ' But in a
great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of
wood and of earth ; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.' The
carnal and renewed, the sincerely godly and the hypocrites, live together
in the church without any dishonour to the church, or derogation to
God's providence ; as in a great family there are divers utensils, some
for a nobler, some for a baser use. But the former scandal against the
truth of the gospel, which seemed to be weakened in their minds by
this perverse opinion, that the resurrection was past, is chiefly obviated
in the text. They denied the future estate, and so there was no bliss
for them that were persecuted. Now, to comfort them, the apostle
telleth them that God hath a reward for those that were faithful with
him, and that eternally both in body and soul. So that the meaning
of ' The foundation of the Lord standeth sure,' is his obligation and
covenant with them in Christ ; and his purpose towards them remains
unchangeable and firm, because it is sealed on God's part by his provi
dence, administering all things for the good of the elect ; on man's part,
by their conscience of their duty : ' Nevertheless the foundation of the
Lord standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are
his ; and, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity.' In the words observe—
1. The proposition concerning the sureness of God's covenant, ' The
foundation of the Lord standeth sure/
2. The confirmation —
[1.] In general, because it is a sealed contract.
[2.] More particularly from the nature of this seal, or the double
inscription or motto of it. It hath an inscription or motto agreeing to
the condition of the two parties contracting.
(1.) On God's part, ' The Lord knoweth them that are his.' God
will be faithful and constant in loving those who are his servants.
(2.) On man's part. Yet we are not to be negligent of our duty :
''And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity.'
Doct. That whatever errors or scandals arise in the church, yet God's
purpose, declared in the gospel, of bringing his peculiar people unto
glory, remaineth firm and steady.
This was the truth assaulted by this error, which shook so many,
and this is the comfort which the apostle propoundeth to the disciples
and servants of Christ.
The point will be made good by explaining the circumstances of
the text.
I. The proposition here asserted, 'The foundation of the Lord
standeth sure.' All the business will be to show what is the founda
tion of God. & eyue'Xto?, ' foundation,' is taken sensu forensi or archi-
tectomco, in the builder's sense or in the lawyer's sense. In the builder's
350 SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY II. 19.
sense, for the foundation of an house ; in the lawyer's sense, for the
foundation of an estate which I expect from another, upon any bargain
or contract with him : the evidences and deeds of conveyance are the
foundation which I have to build upon for my right and title. Now,
to take ' foundation ' here in the builder's sense, would make but an odd
interpretation in this place. Whoever heard of the sealing of the
foundation of an house, and inscriptions on that seal ? And therefore
' foundation ' is taken here for a covenant or bill of contract ; as also,
1 Tim. vi. 19, ' Laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation
against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.' It
would be incongruous to take ' foundation ' there in the builder's sense,
as if good works were the foundation of eternal life. No ; they are
only the evidences and assurances of it. The notion of a bond or
obligation is more proper. Upon a contract I found or build my con
fidence of expecting good from another ; so, Prov. xix. 17, ' He that
hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath
given will he pay him again.' Lending noteth some contract and
promise, and expectation grounded thereon ; so here, ' The foundation
of God ' is his bill or bond, which is as a pledge or security left with us ;
and thereby is not meant so much God's eternal purpose of election, as
his covenant, that deed and instrument of law by which he conveyeth
pardon and life to us. Now this may be considered two ways — either
as offered or applied ; either as externally preached according to the
approving or commanding will of God, or as acted and effectually
applied to the hearts of the elect according to the decree of God. As
offered, so the proposition asserts the immutability of the gospel cove
nant, contrary to the doctrine and offence occasioned by these false
teachers ; as applied, so it asserts the perseverance of the saints ; both
which are confirmed by the seal annexed. Both are contrary to the
scandal offered by these false teachers. They denied the resurrection,
or hopes of the other world. God will give the blessings promised to
his people ; if they suffer here, or be miserable here, they shall be happy
hereafter. The covenant is applied against the offence ; God would
be faithful, if they would be vigilant; and he would preserve them in
a state of grace, though others did fall away. Well, then, the truth
•which we are to discuss is, that God's covenant will be sure, firm, and
stable, to all those that are sincerely entered into the bond of it. It
must needs be so.
1. it is everywhere sure on God's part ; and,
2. He will make it sure on our part. If he will not depart from
us, and we shall not depart from him, surely then it is steadfast.
1. On God's part there is no danger of failing. There is his eternal
love, backed with an infinite power, and engaged by an infallible truth.
God's love and mercy were the only reasons which engaged him to make
this covenant with us ; the pleasure of his will gave it a being, and his
truth is engaged to make it good : Micah vii. 20, ' Thou wilt perform
the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn
unto our fathers from the days of old.' The promise was out of mercy
given to Abraham, with whom the covenant was first made ; but out of
truth and fidelity it descended to Jacob, and was established with his
seed. In the managing of the same covenant God showed his power :
SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY II. 19. 351
Gen. xvii. 1, ' I am God all-sufficient.' That solved all difficulties to-
Abraham. We have the same grounds to depend upon in the
covenant made with the Christian church in the promise of eternal life.
Surely Christ would not feed us with chimeras, who was ever plain-
hearted and open with his disciples : John xiv. 2, ' If it were not so, 1
would have told you.' He meaneth as he speaketh, and persisteth in
the same mind, and is able to make his word good. His everlasting
love provided this happiness for us before the world was : Mat. xxv.
34, ' Then shall the king say to them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world.' So Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock ; it
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom/ It is secured
by the promise of the faithful God, and he hath confirmed it by an oath :
Heb. vi. 18, ' That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have strong consolation. Tea, and it is
possessed by our surety and head in our name : Heb. vi. 20, ' Whither
the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for
ever after the order of Melchisedec.' And the power of God is
engaged to prevent the dangers by the way : 1 Peter i. 5, ' Who are
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.' Heaven is
kept for us, and we for it ; which power of God is engaged to solve all
the difficulties about the end and happiness itself : Phil. iii. 21, ' Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to
subdue all things unto himself.' So that on God's part it is sure..
They that have the word of the eternal God to build upon, do build
upon a sure foundation : Ps. Ixxxix. 34, ' My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.' It is compared with
the stability of hills and mountains : Isa. liv. 10, ' For the mountains-
shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall never
depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.' It is compared also with
the covenant of night and day, which cannot be disannulled by any
created power : Jer. xxxi. 35, 36, ' Thus saith the Lord, which giveth
the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the
stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves
thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name : If those ordinances depart
from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease
from being a nation before me for ever;' Jer. xxxiii. 20, 21, ' Thus saith
the Lord, If you break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the
night, and that there should not be day and night in their season, then-
may also my covenant be broken with David my servant.'
2. It is secure also on our part, where all the danger lieth ; as God
will not depart from us, so he will take care we shall not depart from
him ; so that if once we truly and really enter into covenant with God,
we do not only keep the covenant, but the covenant keepeth us. Two-
things maketh it firm on our parts —
[1.] Internal grace vouchsafed and granted to us by promise: Jer.
xxxii. 40, ' And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I
will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear
in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.' So Ezek. xxxvL
352 SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY II. 19.
27, ' I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them/ It doth not
hang upon the mutable motions of the creature's will.
[2.] External providence, or the provision that is made for failings
and slips, where the heart is sincere for the main. There is a clause
put into the covenant, that every failing in the performance of our duty
shall not make a forfeiture. See Ps. Ixxxix. 30-33, ' If his children
forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, if they break my
statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their trans
gressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes ; nevertheless
my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my
faithfulness to fail.' It is the duty of God's children to watch over
their corrupt nature and against temptations, that they may not fail,
otherwise they are not sincere ; but yet, notwithstanding their greatest
watchfulness, they will in some things be found faulty, both in point of
omission and commission, yet the Lord will not be severe upon every
trespass ; the covenant goeth on still, notwithstanding lesser trans
gressions on our part : 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, ' Although my house be not so
with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and sure ; for this is all my salvation, and all my desire,
although he make it not to grow.' We are not so firm as God, but
remission of sins is one of the covenant privileges, and remaineth
notwithstanding the defects and failings on our part. When we grow
secure, and neglect our duty, and do not watch over ourselves, the
jealous God will watch over us, and take away the fuel of our lusts,
and quicken us to repentance and the remembrance of our duty. The
sharpest rods and sorest stripes may stand, and do stand with his cove
nant love to them : Ps. cxix. 75, ' I know that in faithfulness hast thou
afflicted me.' Yea, not only so, but they are part of his covenanting
administrations ; they are fatherly corrections, and medicinal preserva
tives against sinning ; they are tokens of God's hating sin in his people,
but not of the rejection of their persons, but rather effects of his love to
the persons corrected.
II. The confirmation.
1. In the general, God's bill and bond hath a seal annexed to it.
A seal is to make a thing unquestionable. The prophet, in his bargain
for the field of Anathoth, Jer. xxxii. 10, 11, saith, ' I subscribed the
evidence, and sealed it ; and I took the evidence of the purchase, which
was sealed according to the law and custom.' The sealing of the deeds
was an assurance by which an inheritance was made over; and a
covenant and bargain ratified was sealed by both parties. So is God's
covenant sealed, for the more assurance, by God and us.
2. I shall show particularly the nature of the seal on God's part
and ours.
[1.] The seal of the covenant hath an impression suitable to God's
part, ' The Lord knoweth those that are his ; ' where there is a double
comfort and ground of assurance to God's covenant people — (1.) They
are his ; (2.) He knoweth them.
(1.) They are his.
(1st.) By election from all eternity : John xvii. 6, ' Thine they
were.' By this there is a distinction between them and others in the
SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY II. 19. 355
purposes of his grace. When the Lord had all Adam's posterity
under his all- seeing eye, he did out of his free love choose some from
among others to be the objects of his special grace.
(2<i) By effectual calling, which is their actual choice, by which a
distinction is made between them and others in time : 2 Thes. ii. 13,
' God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sancti-
fication of the Spirit, and belief of the truth.' His actual choice is
there meant : John xv. 19, 'I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you.' The world knoweth not the secrets
of God's election, but they see the effects. The first foundation of a
believer's salvation was laid in election, but it is acted and completed
when God calleth them from the rest of the world, and sets them apart
for himself.
(3d) They are his by entering into covenant with him, and an act
of consecration on their part : Ezek. xvi. 8, ' Now when I passed by
thee, and looked upon thee, behold thy time was the time of love ; and
I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness ; yea, I sware
unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God,
and thou becamest mine.' They surrender themselves to the Lord's
use : 2 Chron. xxx. 8, ' Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers
were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord.' Give your hand to God.
Now all this maketh the foundation or the covenant of the Lord sure
to them, so that they shall not miscarry by damnable errors and wilful
sin, as others do. God's eternal election keepeth them from the taint
of errors : Mat. xxiv. 24, ' Insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect/ The elect cannot altogether be seduced and
drawn away from Christ, because of the purpose of God, which is
backed by his invincible power and care over them. Actual election
or effectual calling giveth them a discerning spirit: 2 Thes. ii. 13,
* But we are bound always to give thanks to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord ; because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.'
Their minds are savingly enlightened and their wills renewed, so that
they are kept safe. Their covenant-dedication doth particularly entitle
them to God's care, so that they are guided by God's Spirit, and
guarded by his continual providence, till the work begun in them be
perfected : Phil. i. 6, ' Being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ/ '
(2.) God knoweth them. Knowing is put for —
(1st.) His particular notice of them as his peculiar people of all that
belong to the election of his grace. He kuoweth their persons : Jer.
i. 5, ' Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.' God hath a
special care of them, that they may not die in their unregenerate con
dition. He knoweth their names : Exod. xxxiii. 12, ' I know thee by
name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight ; ' and ver. 17, ' I
will do this thing also which thou hast spoken ; for thou hast found
grace in my sight, and I know thee by name/ And it is said of Jesus
Christ that ' he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out,'
John x. 3. He knoweth all his flock particularly, their names and
their number by head and poll, even to the meanest and poorest saint :
VOL. xvni. z
354 SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY II. 19.
John, Andrew, Thomas. He knoweth their necessities, straits, and
temptations, cares, griefs, fears, wants, difficulties, and dangers : Mat. .
vi. 32, ' Your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these
things.' He knoweth who wanteth food, and raiment, and protection.
His eye is never off the saints : Ps. Ivi. 8, ' Thou tellest my wanderings;
put thou my tears into thy bottle ; are they not in thy book ? ' Not a
drop but is in God's bottle. God doth number their tears, reckon all
the steps of their wanderings and pilgrimages ; every weary step
through Ziph and Hareph. I tell you, it is God's business in heaven
to look after his saints : ' The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through
out the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them
whose heart is perfect towards him,' 2 Chron. xvi. 9. He knoweth all
their employments, and how they are to be fitted for them : Gal. i. 15,
' It pleased God, who>separated me from my mother's womb, and called
me by his grace.' He dateth God's care from that time. This child
is appointed to be a vessel of mercy, to be employed in an especial
manner for God's glory. Thus Jeremiah was designed to be a prophet
before he was bred or born ; Paul to be an apostle in his mother's
womb. An instance we have of God's particular knowledge in Acts
ix. 11, ' The Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the street which is
called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul
of Tarsus ; for behold he prayeth.' Such a town, such a street, such a
person, about such a work. God taketh notice of every particular
circumstance.
(2d) As he taketh notice of them, so it is with love, delight, and
approbation, verba notiiice connotant affectus. He embraceth them
with special love, delighteth in them as his peculiar people, and
approveth of them. Knowing beareth this sense for approving ; as
Ps. i. 6, ' The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of
the ungodly shall perish.' So Mat. vii. 23, ' I never knew you ; depart
from me, ye workers of iniquity ; ' that is, I do not approve you. The
Lord seeth and beholdeth them with mercy, and according to the
gracious tenor of the evangelical covenant he approveth and rewardeth
all the good purposes and performances of the godly. Here the Lord
rests in his love : Zeph. iii. 17, ' The Lord thy God in the midst of
thee is mighty ; he will save thee ; he will rejoice over thee with joy :
he will rest in his love ; he will joy over thee with singing,' as his
peculiar people.
(3d) Knowledge is put for the communication of saving benefits :
Gal. iv. 9, ' Now after ye have known God, or rather are known of God.'
Sinners in an unconverted estate are such of whom God taketh no
notice and knowledge, to wit, so as to be familiar with them, and to
communicate saving blessings to them ; but thus God knoweth his
people, that he will not suffer them to be taken out of his hands.
[2.] The impression that suiteth with our part, or our duty in the
covenant, ' Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity.' Where take notice —
(1.) Of the description of the parties concerned, ' Whoso nameth
the name of Christ ; ' that is, maketh profession of being a Christian.
As the wife is called by the name of her husband : Isa. iv. 1, ' Only let
us be called by thy name ; ' the father's name is put on the children :
SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY II. 19. 355
Gen. xlviii. 16, ' Let my name be named on them ; ' so ' every one that
nameth the name of Christ/ that is, so as to entitle himself to him, to
be one of his disciples and followers.
(2.) The duty required, 'Let him depart from iniquity.' Where
note —
(1st.) That there is a duty required of those that would possess those
blessed privileges. Those that presume of their election, and cast
away all care of salvation, and let loose the reins to all carnal liberty,
they have no title nor right to these comforts. No ; it belongeth to
them who live in a conscionable obedience and careful endeavour to
please God in all things. No man immediately knoweth his election
but by holiness : 1 Thes. i. 4, 5, ' Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God ; for our gospel came not to you in word only, but also
in power, and in the Holy Ghost.' We understand things by their
effects. God carrieth on the business of salvation in such a manner
that he will have his people co-operate by the power they have received
from him, taking heed of all things which are contrary thereunto, both
in life and doctrine : Phil. ii. 12, ' Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling ; for it is God which worketh in you both to will
and to do, of his good pleasure ; ' and 2 Peter i. 10, ' Give diligence to
make your calling and election sure.' God's counsel is fulfilled by
means, and we can have no knowledge but by the effect.
(2d.) How his duty is expressed, ' Let him depart from iniquity.'
Not only retain the faith and profession of Jesus Christ, but depart
from all manner of sin.
(1st.) The thing quitted is sin. It is an indefinite expression, which
implieth all sin ; not only sensual lusts, as voluptuous living, but pride,
ambition, contention, animosity, vainglory. See ver. 21 and 22 of
this chapter : ' If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall
be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the master's use, and
prepared unto every good work : flee also youthful lusts, but follow after
righteousness, faith, charity, peace.' In short, our duty is to keep close
to God ; and the departing from iniquity is by sound repentance at first,
and by constant holiness of life afterwards, which are as the gate and
the way.
(2d.) Though it belongeth to our care, yet God affecteth and
worketh this obedience in the hearts of the elect, or his peculiar
people ; they must attend upon this work, but all is done by the grace
and power of the Holy Ghost: Heb. xiii. 20, 21, 'Now the God of
peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you
that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom
be glory for ever and ever, Amen.'
Use. We learn hence two things — (1.) A comfortable dependence
upon God till our salvation be accomplished ; (2.) The necessity of all
holy care and diligence, notwithstanding God's undertaking in the
covenant.
1. A comfortable dependence upon God till our salvation be accom
plished. (1.) You are his : Ps. cxix. 94, ' I am thine, save me.' (2.)
He knoweth you, and will make a distinction between you and others :
356 SERMON UPON 2 TIMOTHY II. 19.
John xiii. 18, ' I speak not of you all ; I know whom I have chosen ; '
2 Peter ii. 9, ' The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of
temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be
punished.' (3.) He that knoweth you is the Lord, and what is too
hard for the Lord ? his divine power can give you all things : 2 Peter
i. 3, ' According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness ; ' and 2 Cor. ix. 8, ' God is able to make
all grace abound towards you, that ye always, having all sufficiency in
all things, may abound to every good work.' (4.) It is the seal of his
foundation, therefore he will unchangeably pursue what shall be for
our good : Isa. xiv. 27, ' The Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who
shall disannul it ? ' Ps. xlvi. 10, ' My counsel shall stand, and I will do
all my pleasure ; ' Mai. iii. 6, ' I am the Lord, I change not ; there
fore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.' We often complain, as Israel
of old, ' My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment passed
over by my God,' Isa. xl. 27. He hath forgotten us in the throng of
business that is upon his hands, and taketh no notice of us. But here
is sufficient encouragement for a dependence upon God : ' The founda
tion of the Lord standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth
those that are his.'
2. We learn the necessity of all holy care and diligence, notwith
standing God's undertaking in the covenant. Qui fecit te sine te, &c. —
God, that made thee without thee, will not save thee without thee.
God, that decreed the end, decreeth also the means. (1.) If you name
the name of Christ, there, must be holiness joined with profession,
otherwise you are a dishonour to him, and make him the minister of
sin : Gal. ii. 17, 'But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we
ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin ?
God forbid.' (2.) Consider the impartiality of your judge. You will
not find favour for being a Christian in profession only : 1 Peter i. 17,
* If ye call on the Father, who, without respect of persons, judgeth
according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here
in fear.' (3.) You lose your evidence if you do not live as one known
of God. External profession is disclaimed : Mat. vii. 21-23, ' Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name ? and in thy name have cast out devils ? and in thy name
done many wonderful works ? And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.' (4.) As
you are concerned in God's foundation, you oblige yourselves to a
strict holy life • 1 Peter iii. 21, ' The like figure whereunto even
baptism doth now also save us ; not the putting away the filth of the
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God ; ' and Heb. x.
21, 22, ' Having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near
with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.'
SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25.
And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to
come, Felix trembled : and answered, Go thy way for this time ;
when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. — ACTS
xxiv. 25.
IN this chapter you have — (1.) The story of Paul's accusation by
Tertullus ; (2.) Paul's defence ; (3.) The event, Felix's humanity to
Paul ; where three things are observable —
1. He deferred the business : ver. 22, ' When Felix heard those
things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them,
and said, When Lysias, the chief captain, shall come down, I will
know the uttermost of your matter ; ' that is, understanding the affairs
of Christians better than they were represented to him by Tertullus,
having governed the province jointly with Cumanus for a while, and
afterwards being sole governor himself, he well understood the differ
ence between the Jews and Christians as to the external state of the
controversy ; that is the meaning of ' having more perfect knowledge
of that way.' Not that he knew or accurately understood the tenor
of Christian doctrine, but that he well knew how hardly and unjustly
the Christians were handled by the Jews. He knew that Christ and
Christians were not guilty of sedition against the Koman commonwealth,
but that Christ was delivered to Pilate out of mere envy ; that the
Christian religion was confirmed by notable miracles ; that those that
professed Christianity were eminent above all other sects of the Jews
for great modesty and piety, nor so prone to raise mutinies and troubles
as the rest of the Jews. This he knew, and this moved him to show
some favour to Paul, by putting off the Jews, under a pretence to speak
further with the chief captain, Lysias. Which teacheth us that the
religion and innocency of the primitive Christians was such, that in
some measure it got them favour in the sight of heathens. Christians
are holy chiefly for this end, that they may please God and save their
souls ; but yet this is one motive by which they are quickened to holy
conversation and godliness, that they may give no occasion to the
enemies to blaspheme, but rather may have a good report among them
which are without, and so invite them to a love of the truth and ways
of God : 1 Peter ii. 12, ' Having your conversation honest among the
gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may
by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day
358 SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25.
of visitation ; ' Col. iv. 5, ' Walk in wisdom toward them that are
without, redeeming the time;' 1 Thes. iv. 11, 12, ' That ye study to be
quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, as
you are commanded ; that you may walk honestly towards them that
are without, and that you may have lack of nothing.' Those that by
scandals do hinder other men's salvation can hardly be certain of their
own.
2. He gave Paul more liberty : ver. 23, ' And he commanded a
centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should
forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come to him.' Though
he kept him yet in bonds, yet he was not' a close prisoner, but had
liberty of conversing with his friends. Where learn —
[l.j When afflictions are not wholly taken away, yet it is a mercy to
have a mitigation. Paul, from his closer restraint, had his condition en
larged, and God gave him some more liberty, though not a full deliver
ance. Christ himself, though he could not obtain that the cup should
pass away, yet was comforted and supported by an angel, Luke xxii. 42,
43. So Paul, in another case, had grace sufficient for him, though
the messenger of Satan that buffeted him was not taken away, 2 Cor.
xii. 8, 9. Thus God often sweeteneth our afflictions when he doth not
remove them, and remembereth mercy in the midst of judgment.
, [2.] Observe, ' He should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or
come to him ; ' which showeth the kindness of Christians one to another,
in affording mutual help and comfort in their necessities and afflictions ;
' He should forbid fjurj&eva rwv iStW, none of his own,' i.e., of his own
company, 'to come to him;' as Acts iv. 23, 'They went Trpo? rov<j I8iov<;,
unto their own company.'
3. The third office of humanity and kindness from Felix to Paul
was, that he was desirous to hear him preach : ver. 24, ' After certain
days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he
sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ ; ' that is,
of the Christian religion. This Drusilla was the sister of Herod
Agrippa, who killed James and imprisoned Peter, Acts xii. In histories
she is said to have deserted her husband, the king of the Emisens,
and to have lived uncleanly with Felix. Now, being a Jewess by
religion, she had not only sinned against the law by marrying an
uncircumcised person, or a worshipper of a strange god : Mai. ii. 11,
* Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in
Israel and in Jerusalem ; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of
the Lord, which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange
god ; ' but also by deserting her husband after she had married him,
and living in adultery, rather than a true and proper marriage with
Felix. So that here are two evil persons, and yet they are willing to
hear Paul preach concerning the faith in Christ. Wicked people
may desire to hear the word out of curiosity ; so Herod heard John,
Mark vi. 20 ; but they come not with an intent to believe, and do the
things given them in charge.
In the text you have the issue and effect of this sermon : ' And as
he reasoned of righteousness,' &c;
In the words we have an account —
[1.] Of the matter of Paul's sermon.
SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25. 359
[2.] The effect and fruit of it.— (1.) ' Felix trembled ; ' (2.) De
layed, and put it off, ' Go thy way,' &c.
1. The matter.
' 1. In general, it was concerning faith in Christ, or the Christian
religion.
2. In particular, three heads are mentioned, ' Kighteousness, temper
ance, judgment to come.' He made choice of these heads as plainest
and easiest to be understood, and as a proper and suitable argument ;
for Felix was publicly stained with vices contrary to these virtues. He
was brother of Pallas, and one well known to the emperor Claudius.
He was in his magistracy very unjust, acquiring great riches by bribes ;
Tacitus reporteth him infamous for this. And he and Drusilla were
intemperate and incontinent, living in adultery, and he using her as a
wife, who was another man's. Paul was not ignorant of this. We
must not shoot at rovers, but aim at a certain mark in our ministry.
A physician that cometh to cure doth not use at adventure one remedy
for all diseases, but medicines proper to the malady of the patient.
The method of converting sinners requireth this, to show what men
must be that may stand in the judgment, holy, just, and temperate.
II. The effect and fruit on Felix's part. Of Drusilla there is nothing
spoken. She being a Jewe'ss, this doctrine was not new and strange to
her ; but having heard it often, is not moved by it through hardness of
heart. But of Felix we read two things —
1. His trembling, e/i<£o/3o9 yevofjuevos ; he is all in an agony, made up
all of fear.
2. His delay and put off, ' Go thy way.' It is a civil denial and baffle
put upon conscience. Conviction not improved usually makes a man
turn devil. He might have cast him into irons, but he rageth not. It
fared worse with Jonathan the high priest (as Josephus telleth us) when
he had reproved Felix for his injustice and bribery. He sent assassins
to murder him, who, mingling themselves with his servants, and mak
ing a broil in his family, killed him, so that the principal author and
designer of the murder was not known. It fared better with Paul — (1.)
Partly from the force of the present conviction ; it was so strong that
he could not gainsay, but only seeketh to elude the importunity of it
by the dream of a more convenient season. (2.) Partly from some
mixture of his sin : ver. 26, ' He hoped that money should have been
given him of Paul,' a/*a 8e /cat eX7rt£aw. The text in the Greek joineth
his fear and avarice together ; being afraid, he bids Paul depart, but
hoped also that money should have been given. This expecting a gift,
as it obstructed his conviction, so it broke his rage, and therefore he
useth Paul the more civilly.
Doct. That a carnal man may be deeply affected with the Christian
doctrine, even to great agonies of conscience, and yet finally miscarry.
This is evident in the instance of Felix, who trembled, but yet delayed,
shaketh off the force of Paul's sermon by a pretence of business, and
continueth in his sin ; for after this he expecteth a bribe, and because
that came not, to pleasure the Jews he left Paul in bonds.
1. I shall speak of the nature of this trembling or agony of con
science which is here ascribed to Felix.
2. The cause of it, God's word, in the general ; and in particular, the
doctrine of the last judgment.
360 SKRMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25.
3. The effects and fruit, how it doth or may come to nothing.
I. What is this trembling ascribed to Felix ? Trembling at the word
of God is made a fruit and effect of special grace : Isa. Ixvi. 2, ' To
this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,
and trembleth at my word.' And Ezra, attempting a reformation,
gathered to him all that trembled at the words of the Lord God of
Israel, Ezra x. 3.
I answer — We must distinguish of a fear sanctifying and a fear
only awakening for a time ; of a fear that is a grace, and a fear that is only
a pang of conscience. A fear sanctifying is such a sense of our danger as
stirreth up in us a constant serious care to avoid the wrath of God and
please him. So it is said, Prov. xvi. 6, ' By the fear of the Lord men
depart from evil.' This fear is a grace, an habitual disposition of soul,
which is spoken of in the places alleged. The fear only awakening
is such a sense of our danger as doth only trouble us for the present,
but doth not put us upon the right way to remedy the evil we are
convinced of : Eph. v. 14, ' Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light/ The awakening is a mercy,
especially if we are not only awakened from our drowsy fits, but we
arise from the dead. If we forsake the way of destruction, and betake
ourselves to the service of God, we are safe.
Many wicked men are shrewdly shaken by the preaching of the word
for a while ; they are a little awakened out of their drowsy fits, and
begin to fear and' tremble ; yet they return to them again, and sleep
the sleep of death, till in the day of judgment the books of conscience
be opened, and then they everlastingly awake with terrors, and never
sleep more. If they could as sweetly sleep in their sins in hell as they
do now upon earth, wrath to come would not be so terrible and tor
menting a thing to them.
The differences between this sensible work and holy trembling at
God's word are these —
1. Holy fear is a voluntary act, and excited in them by faith and
love ; by faith, believing God's threatening ; by love, which is troubled
at the offence done to God : 2 Chron. xxxiv. 27, ' Because thine heart
was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God when thou
heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants
thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes,
and weep before me, I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.' Josiah
was active in this trembling and humiliation. But this is an involun
tary impression, arising from the spirit of bondage, and irresistible
conviction, which for a while puts them in the stocks of conscience ;
but they seek to enlarge themselves as soon as they can.
• 2. They differ in the ground or formal reason of this trouble, agony,
and consternation of spirit. To be troubled for the offence done to
God is a good sign, but to be troubled merely for the punishment due
to us is the guise of hypocrites. Esau was troubled, for he sought the
blessing with tears when he had lost it, Heb. xii. 17. But how was he
troubled ? Non quia vendiderat, sed qitia perdiderat — because he had
lost the birthright, which was his misery ; not because he had sold it,
which was his sin. So all wicked men, saith Austin, non peccare metuunt,
sed ardere ; they do not fear to sin ; their hearts are in secret love and
SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25. 361
league with, their lusts, but they are afraid to be damned-; it is not
God's displeasure they care for, but their own safety : ' The young man-
went away sad, and was grieved, for he had great possessions/ Mark x.
22 ; because he could not reconcile his covetous mind with Christ's
institutes. So Felix trembled, being convinced of sins which he was
loath to discontinue and break off.
3. They differ in their effects. Many men tremble at the word of
God coming in upon their hearts with power, but this awakening
worketh diversely. Sometimes to a solicitous anxiousness about the way
of salvation, and then it is good ; as those, Acts ii. 37, ' And when they
heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and
the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren,. what shall we do ? ' That
was a kindly work, to desire to be further instructed and directed into
the way of life and peace. Sometimes to rage : Acts vii. 54, ' When
they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and gnashed on him
with their teeth ; ' they were vexed at the galling truths which Stephen
delivered, and the conviction that was upon them kindled their rage
against him. Sometimes it produceth nothing but dilatory excuses, as
here in Felix : ' Go thy way for this time ; when I have a more con
venient season, I will send for thee.'
II. The cause of this trouble and agony was the word ; wherein the
matter and the manner is considerable.
1. The matter is to be considered both generally and particularly.
[1.] Generally, the word of God, or the doctrine of faith in Christ.
It hath a convincing power. (1.) Partly because of its author ; the
impress of God is upon it ; it partaketh of his properties : Heb. iv. 12,
13, ' For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart ; neither is there any creature that is not mani
fest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of
him with whom we have to do.' God searcheth the heart, and the word
searcheth the heart. God is powerful, and his word is powerful, in dis
covering a sinner to himself, and bringing a sinner out of his lurking
holes, and taking off all disguises. (2.) Partly because of its clearness
and evidence to a natural conscience, if it be not strangely stupefied and
blinded by fleshly lusts : 2 Cor. iv. 2-4, ' By manifestation of the truth
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost ; in whom the
god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.' This scripture showeth that the gospel is
light, which will discover itself if men do not shut their eyes ; and if
men refuse the converting power, they cannot withstand the convinc
ing power of it ; for the work of bringing home souls to God lieth more
with their lusts than with their consciences. (3.) And chiefly because
of the concomitant blessing. God hath appointed the word to be the
great instrument of convincing and converting the world, and doth
accompany it with his grace and Spirit, sometimes to one effect, some
times to another. To convincing : John xvi. 8, the Spirit shall ' con
vince the world of sin, and of righteouness, and of judgment/ If it
362 SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25.
doth no more, it shall leave them under a conviction of the truth.
Sometimes to conversion ; as 2 Cor. iv. 6, ' God, who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.'
God concurreth with his own ordinance by his omnipotent and creating
power.
[2.] Particularly the day of judgment is to be insisted upon in our
ministry. The apostles, in planting the faith, observeth this point of
wisdom, to insist much upon the judgment-day: Acts x. 42, 43, 'And he
commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he
which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead ; and to
him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever be-
lieveth on him shall receive remission of sins.' This was the great
point which his chosen witnesses were to insist upon. So also Acts xvii.
30, 31, ' But now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because
he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteous
ness, by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given
assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.' The
apostles observed the tempers of those they dealt with ; when with
the brutish multitude, they invite them by arguments of providence :
Acts xiv. 15-17, ' Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also are men of
like passions with you, and preach unto you, that you should turn
from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven and earth,
;and the sea, and all that are therein ; who in times past suffered all
cations to walk in their own ways ; nevertheless he left not himself
•without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven,
and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.' When
with the learned, he speaks of the first cause and chief good : Acts xvii.
28, ' For in him we live, move, and have our being ; ' and binds all by
his coming to judgment, ver. 31. So he deals with Felix here ; he
urges principles of known equity and sobriety, from the day of judg
ment. See also 2 Cor. v. 10, 11, ' For we must all appear before the
judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in
the body, according to that he hath done, whether good or evil.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.' This
was their great and powerful argument.
Reasons.
(1.) Because this made their access into the hearts and consciences
•of men more easy, because of its suitableness to natural light. That
man is God's creature, and therefore his subject, is evident by reasons
drawn from our dependence on the first cause and fountain of all
being. That man hath failed in his subjection to his creator and
Lord is evident by daily experience ; that therefore God may call him
to an account, and man should fear his wrath, is a principle as evident
as the former, and justified by the guilty fears incident to mankind
because of their offences : Horn. i. 32, ' Who knowing the judgment of
God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death.'
Divine justice must once publicly appear, and rectify the disorders of
the world. Now because of the sentiments of nature, the doctrine of
the final judgment doth easily enter into the thoughts and consciences
of men.
SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25. 363
(2.) Tin's doth most befriend the great discovery of the gospel, which
Is justification by Christ and pardon of sin, by submitting to his
instruction. If he be our judge, we ought to take the law from his
mouth, and put ourselves into his hands, to be guided and ordered by
him, that we may find favour in that day. This is evident ; every one
would seek to be approved by his judge ; and that Christ is our judge
Is evident by his resurrection ; and his doctrine alone, with any pro
bability of reason, pretendeth to the reparation of mankind, and to set
them in joint again, that they may live to God. Let men have but
the sense of a judgment to come soundly laid up in their hearts and
consciences, and they can have no rest while they keep off from the
gospel.
(3.) This doth best solve the doubts about present providence.
Paul doth not teach Felix that the Christian religion doth make any
difference between the just and unjust as to their outward condition
in the world, or between the temperate and intemperate. No ; for the
just may be oppressed and the unjust thrive, or else Felix had never
been in power ; and as for the temperate, their religion would make
them miserable while they deny the desires of the flesh. No ; here
' there be just men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the
wicked ; and there be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to
the work of the righteous/ Eccles. viii. 4. But there is a judgment to
come, wherein every man shall be judged according to what he hath
done in this life ; all men must appear and receive their doom, and
some go into everlasting life, others into everlasting punishment.
2. The manner is to be considered. The word must be closely and
prudently applied ; for here is both a close and prudent application.
[1.] Close. He discourseth of virtues opposite to the vices where
with this man was blemished. The word hath force of itself, yet
managed with dexterity, as a dart that falleth by its own weight, it
will pierce ; but especially when feathered, and directed and cast by a
skilful hand, and levelled at the mark : ' This is Jesus, whom ye have
crucified. And when they heard that, they were pricked at the heart,'
Acts ii. 36, 37. Not when they saw the miracle, not while the doctrine
was delivered. In the doctrine delivered we do but bend the bow ; in
application we let fly the arrow and shoot at the mark. A clap of
thunder when distant doth not startle me, but when it is in my own
zenith.
[2.] Prudent. Paul is here an example of prudence as well as of
faithfulness. When he spake to Felix and Drusilla, he doth not
charge them with intemperance, or unchastity, or injustice ; but dis
courseth of justice and temperance, that by that which is right they
might understand that which is crooked, and from the rule know their
own enormity. He lays the looking-glass before their eyes, and lets
them see themselves, and behold their natural face in a glass.
III. The effect or fruit, how it doth or may come to nothing.
1. Through the levity of man, whose pangs of devotion are soon-
spent. The righteousness of the hypocrite is compared to the morning
clouds and the early dews, Hosea vi. 4 ; the righteousness of the upright
to the morning light, Prov. iv. 18.
2. Their addictedness to their lusts, which is greater than their
364 SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25.
affection to religion : Luke viii. 14, ' And that which fell among thorns
are they which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with
cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to per
fection.' Sentiments of religion die away through cares of the world or
voluptuous living.
3. Their unskilfulness in handling wounds of conscience. Some
think they are never wounded enough ; but it is not the deepness of
the wound, but the soundness of cure that is to be regarded. Some
heal their wounds slightly, a palliate cure ; they skin it over when it
festereth within. Others dissemble it till it proveth deadly. Others
run to a worldly cure, as if soul-thirst could be quenched at the next
ditch, or an evil spirit could be cured by music. Some by a clatter
and din of business put off that which they do not put away : Amos
vi. 3, ' Ye put away the evil day.' Cain, in anguish of conscience,
fell abuilding of cities.
4. Want of God's grace : Acts xvi. 14, ' And a certain woman named
Lydia, which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened.'
Which is forfeited by the party who hath common helps and advantages.
Some put away the word : Acts xiii. 46, ' It was necessary that the
word of God should first have been spoken to you ; but seeing ye put
it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo ! we turn
to the gentiles.' Some put away trouble of conscience : Gen. vi. 3,
* My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh."
Some lose their tastes and relishes of Christian doctrine, and relapse
into a carnal savour : Heb. vi. 3, 4, ' For it is impossible for those
who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and
were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good
word, and the powers of the world to come, if they fall away, to renew
them to repentance.'
Use 1. Information. We learn divers profitable lessons from hence.
1. The power of the word. Here is a notable instance of it, if we
consider the person who trembled. Felix — (1.) By religion a pagan,
who did not believe the gospel. The devils believe and tremble, and
the word worketh effectually in them that believe ; but here an infidel
is fain to stoop to the evidence of it, and at the same time it breaketh
upon his heart and mind so far as to make him afraid. (2.) By his
quality, a judge. The prisoner inaketh the judge tremble. Outward
distance and disadvantages should not discourage us ; our testimony
rightly managed may alarm the consciences of those who are ready to
condemn us. (3.) By his disposition ; not a devout man, but a man
hardened in a course of sinning. We should despair of none. God
can find his way into the consciences of the most sensual. (4.) For
his outward condition, a man glutted with worldly happiness ; yet the
thoughts of the other world will soon sour all the prosperity of the
present life. (5.) For his temper now ; he sent for Paul out of
curiosity, to satisfy his Jewish wife or minion ; but God can make use
of man's sins to glorify himself and his truth. This power of the word,
this convincing power, should be often thought of ; they that feel it
not, fear it : John iii. 20, ' For every one that doeth evil hateth the
light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.'
2. The profitableness of insisting upon the last judgment, that we
SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25. 365
may persuade you, and you may suffer yourselves to be persuaded. It
is the great awe-bond to beget in us a sense of our duty and sin ; for
(1.) It is an impartial judgment, that must pass upon all, high or low,
rich or poor : Rev. xx. 12, ' And I saw the dead/small and great, stand
-before God, and the books were opened ; and another book was opened,
which is the book of life ; and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the" books, according to their works.' Outward
friend or foe, heathen or Christian, officer or private person : 1 Peter
i. 17, ' And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons
judgeth every man according to his work/ (2.) It is a strict and just
judgment: Acts xvii. 31, 'He hath appointed a day wherein he will
judge the world in righteousness.' Now God winks at many faults,
ver. 30. (3.) It is our final doom ; our eternal estate dependeth on it ;
we must be judged to everlasting joy or everlasting torment. (4.) It
is near and sure : ' For the judge standeth before the door,' James v. 9.
Every week, day, hour, minute, we approach nearer to it.
3. The soreness of a bad conscience, and upon what unsound
terms it is with God. Felix is set a trembling by Paul ; Belshazzar's
edge taken off in the midst of his carousing : Dan. v. 6, ' Then the
king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so
that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against
another.' So true is that, Heb. ii. 15, 'Who through fear of death,
were all their lifetime subject to bondage.'
4. The necessity of a strict obedience. We should carry ourselves
so that the word may comfort us, not make us afraid ; discharging
our duties to God, to our neighbour, and to ourselves: Titus ii. 12,
' Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.' Paul men-
tioneth here two parts, as suiting to his purpose, but there are three —
•* Godly,' the chief part of which is to seek our reconciliation with God
by Christ, then to love him and delight in him, and serve him faith
fully, doing his will, seeking his glory. ' Righteously,' that we may be
just to our neighbour, doing to others as we would be dealt with our
selves. .' Soberly ; ' sobriety and temperance lieth in self-government,
that he possess his vessel in sanctification and honour, keep himself
unspotted from the world, subdue the flesh, that it may not wax wanton,
that the heart be not hardened, nor conscience stupefied, and so become
incapable of spiritual things, and so still crucify the flesh, and inure
the mind to heavenly things.
5. The sottishness of them who are not moved so far as Felix was,
who hear of righteousness, temperance, judgment to come, and are not
a whit moved.
Object. But you will say, Our hearts are established by grace, why
should we be afraid of the future judgment ? I answer —
1. To be only moved with fear and terror is slavish.
2. You should have a deep reverence of his majesty, and so be afraid
to displease him.
3. You must distinguish between a perplexing distrustful fear and
an holy, preventive, eschewing fear.
4. There are great reasons why this fear should have an influence
upon us while we dwell in flesh — (1.) Because the wrath of God was
366 SERMON UPON ACTS XXIV. 25.
once our due ; (2.) We still deserve it ; (3.) It is certainly a great and
extreme difficulty to get free from so great an evil. [See the Sermon
on 2 Cor. v. 11.]
Use 2. Caution, which is double —
1. Do not lose the advantage of this common work, but when the
waters are stirred, put in for a cure. It may be lost — (1.) Partly by
delays or dreams of a more convenient season. The sinner's morrow
will never come ; delay is but a plausible denial ; the sinner's non vacaf
is non placet : Luke xiv. 18, ' And they all with one consent began to
make excuse.' (2.) Partly by disobedience or relapses into our old
crimes ; so Felix returned to his bribery and licentious course. There
fore let us open our hearts to Christ's knocking.
Reasons. (1.) It is very dangerous. None so bad as those that
quench these convictions. The Holy Ghost by the power of the word
setteth them a trembling many times at the thoughts of their condition,
and they have some kind of mind to let sin go, but it cometh to nothing.
Iron often heated and often quenched is the more hard ; the parts are
more united and condensed ; as water heated in cold weather, being
more rarefied, freezeth the faster : Prov. xxix. 1, ' He that, being often
reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that
without remedy.'
(2.) You lose your season, the time wherein God will be found.
There is a twofold season — the time of God's grace, and our capacity.
(1.) The time of God's grace. God the Father's time is while he
waiteth : 1 Peter iii. 20, ' When once the long-suffering of God waited
in, the days of Noah/ The Son's time is when the gospel offers are
made to us : ' To-day, if you will hear his voice/ Heb. iii. 7 ; 2 Cor.
vi. 1,2,' We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also
that ye receive not the grace of God in vain ; for he saith, I have heard
thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured
thee ; behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of sal
vation.' The Spirit's season is the time of the motions of his Spirit :
Gen. vi. 3, ' My Spirit shall not always strive with man ; ' Acts vii. 5,
' Ye stiff-necked and un circumcised in heart and ears, ye do always
resist the Holy Ghost.' (2.) The time of our capacity. When conscience
is awakened, the word is most likely to make an impression upon us,
as when the wax is hot it will receive the impression of the seal.
2. Do not rest in a common work, that you hear the word, and are
some way affected, Herod rejoiced, Felix trembled. God hath never
our hearts till he hath gained our love as well as our fear. Felix
trembled ; God gained upon his fear ; but he never hath our hearts
till he hath our delight, and such a delight as is not controlled by
other delights, when I love him above all, and rejoice in his word
more than in all riches.
SERMON UPON PROYERBS III.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all Tier patlis are peace.
PKOV. iii. 17.
IN the context you have an exhortation to get spiritual and heavenly
wisdom. The argument is first generally propounded, and then parti
cularly amplified.
1. Generally propounded : ver. 13, 'Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding/
2. Particularly amplified —
[1.] By the worth and excellency of wisdom : ver. 14, 15, ' The
merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the
gain thereof than fine gold,' &c.
[2.] The utility and profit : ver. 16, ' Length of days is in her right
hand, and in her left hand riches and honour/ She is represented as
a queen, having both hands full of blessings : ' In the right hand
length of days, in the left hand riches and honour/ He speaks pro
more fosderis, according to the manner of the covenant, wherein tem
poral things are explicitly promised, though spiritual and eternal things
are implied : ' In her right hand length of days/ What do men desire
more than to live long and happy ? Wisdom will teach us to live
for ever : ' And in her left hand riches and honour ; ' all good things
in this world, so far as not to hinder us of the things of a better world,
shall be vouchsafed to us.
[3.] The third argument is in the text, the pleasantness of wisdom ;
which is added to sweeten the difficulties in attaining to it, or pur
suing after it, or exercising the virtue of it in the regulation of our
lives and actions. It is hard to get it, and then to exercise it ; but it
is recompensed with an answerable sweetness : ' Her ways are ways of
pleasantness, and all her paths are peace/
Where note — (1.) The subject, ways, paths ; the general course or
particular duties which wisdom prescribeth; (2.) The predicate,
pleasantness, peace. They are not only pleasant, but safe ; they are
accompanied with spiritual sweetness, and produce solid tranquillity id
the mind of man.
Doct. That the man whose actions and ways are guided by heavenly
wisdom enjoyeth true peace and delight.
I. For stating the point —
1. By wisdom is meant the heavenly doctrine revealed in the word
of God, especially the gospel or salvation by Christ ; for this is called
368 SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 17.
' The wisdom and power of God,' 1 Cor. i. 24 ; and it is said, the
holy scriptures, ' through faith in Christ Jesus, do make us wise unto
salvation,' 2 Tim. iii. 15. He is a fool that is wise to other things
and is not wise to the saving of his soul, for he is wise in trifles, and
neglects necessary things. Well, then, the ways and paths of wisdom
are the ways and paths of faith and holiness. Faith is necessary to
solid rejoicing ; for it is said, 1 Peter i. 8, ' In whom believing, ye
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory ; ' and Eom. xv. 13,
' The God of hope fill ye with all joy and peace in believing.' And
holiness concurreth necessarily ; for it is not only a godly man's duty,
but his delight; and it is rewarded with joy and peace: 2 Cor. i. 12^
'For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that, in
simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the
grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world.' Some
degree of comfort followeth every good action ; before our full and final
reward we have the solace of a good conscience during our service. •
2. That these delights are not carnal delights, but spiritual. Man
is ever inviting himself to some delight ; the oblectation of his mind
cannot lie idle, but usually consults with flesh and blood in choosing
his^delights, and careth for the body more than the soul. But' bodily
delights and pleasing the sense were our old slavery: Titus iii. 3, ' Serv
ing divers lusts and pleasures.' These draw down the mind, and dull
our desires and endeavours towards better things ; therefore here we
need not use the spur, but the bridle, and must refrain ourselves, because
these delights corrupt the mind ; and such a kind of peace is not the
quiet and repose of the soul in God, but the numbness and deadness of
conscience ; carnal security, not a true peace. But the delights and
peace which wisdom inviteth us unto are chaste and rational, such as
ennoble the soul, and raise it to God, and do not put it in vassalage to
sense. _ When our joy runneth out in a spiritual channel, there is no
excess in it, no snare by it. The pleasures of sense are base and dreggy,
but these are heavenly and spiritual.
3. It supposeth that the man be renewed and recovered out of the
common apostasy ; for while a man remaineth in it the beast rideth
the man, and nothing is sweet and pleasant but what gratifieth sensual
appetite. Kegeneration and change of heart is necessary to taste the
pleasures which are in the paths of wisdom ; for nothing is pleasant to
men^but what is suitable to their natures ; and we use to say that one
man's pleasure is another's pain. Distempered souls are not capable
of^ this peace and delight, for every man's gust is according to his con
stitution : Horn. viii. 5, 'They that are after the flesh do mind the things
of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.'
Therefore the carnal man, that is wedded to his vain delights, is an
incompetent judge of the pleasantness that is in the paths of wisdom.
Will he that is wholly addicted to the flesh ever judge that there is
more delight in the^ exercises of godliness than in the foolish pastimes
of the world ; that it is better to be mourning for sin than rejoicing in
the creature ; and that the congregation yieldeth a more solid pleasure
than the theatre ; and that it is better to be mortifying the deeds of
the body by the spirit than to court the senses ? If his judgment may
be convinced, he will never yield to it in his practice. He doth not live
by these rules and measures.
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 17. 369
II. Let me now prove that the true peace and pleasure is nowhere else
to be found but in obedience to heavenly wisdom.
1. I prove it from the matter of this peace and joy, and that is wisdom,
heavenly wisdom, which leadeth us to faith in Christ, love to God, and
an holy and heavenly life. And what is the consequent of these things
but the pardon of all our sins, the assurance of the love of God, and
the lively foresight and foretaste of endless glory and blessedness ?
[1.] The wisdom that cometh from above doth teach us faith in
Christ, as the whole scripture manifesteth : Acts x. 43, ' To him give
all the prophets witness, that through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins.' Well, now, can any man be truly
cheerful till his sins be forgiven ? Alas ! if conscience were but a little
awake, in the midst of all his mirth he would see a sharp sword hang
ing over his head by a slender thread, and that all his jollity is but like
dancing about the mouth of the bottomless pit, into which he is
tumbling every moment. Nay, let him stifle conscience as much as he
can, yet he can never totally get the victory of it ; for he hath his pangs,
and qualms, and hidden fears, if you dig him to the bottom; and
stinging remorses of conscience, which, though not always felt, are soon
awakened. No ; this man can never be truly merry. Suppose none
of this as yet ever felt, yet this you must grant, that he cannot be a man,
recollect his ways, or use any sober consideration why he came into the
world, and whither he is a-going (which every one that weareth the
heart of a man should sometimes do), but his trouble is revived, such
trouble as soureth his contentments, and puts a damp upon all his mirth.
On the other side, a man that hath made it his business to enter into
God's peace by Jesus Christ, and is humbly and broken-heartedly suing
out his pardon in his name, and hath the justice and faithfulness of
God engaged to him, that so doing he shall be pardoned, hath not this
man true and solid cause of rejoicing ? Yes ; certainly his great care
is over, his wounds are healed, he hath got rid of the great sore that
burdened and made, his soul sit uneasy before : Mat. ix. 2, ' Son, be of
good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee.' His great trouble is gone, and
the root of all misery is taken away: Born. v. 11, 'We joy in God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the
atonement.' A condemned malefactor can never be heartily comforted
with a feast his friends give him before execution, but with a pardon
which his prince gives to reverse the sentence of death parsed upon him.
Or thus ; it is little comfort to give a man going to execution a posy of
flowers, and bid him smell to that, and cheer his heart with that ; but
you cheer him indeed if you bring him not only a reprieve, but a
pardon. So when God is reconciled, and all your sins are forgiven
you, this is solid comfort and peace.
[2.] Again, wisdom inviteth us, and calleth us to the love of God ; for
' Faith worketh by love,' Gal. v. 6. Though before we stood in dread
of a condemning God, now we should be deeply possessed with the
goodness of a pardoning God. Well, then, those that love God may
assure themselves that he will ' love them, and manifest himself to them/
John xiv. 21-23. Do we believe this certainly ? It is true. Now if
all the world loveth, and God hateth, you can have no solid peace, for
you must at length fall into his hands. If you had all the world at will,
VOL. XVTII. 2 A
370 SERMON UPON PKOVERBS III. 17,
you may have it with God's hatred, who can make you miserable when
ever he pleaseth. He can blast you with diseases, fill you with dis
quiets of soul, embitter all your comforts. But suppose you had the
love of God, then what wanteth to your solid satisfaction and peace ?
That is the sweetest thing that ever was felt : Ps. iv. 6, 7, ' There be
many that say, Who will show us any good ? Lord, lift thou up the
light of thy countenance upon us; thou hast put gladness in my
heart more than in the time when their corn and wine increased ;' Ps.
Ixiii. 3, ' Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall
praise thee.' This is marrow and fatness ; one drop of it sweeteneth
all our crosses, and it is the life of all our comforts.
[3.] Wisdom inviteth to an holy and heavenly life, or to all those
ways and means whereby we may come to enjoy God at last ; and this
breed eth the lively foresight of that fulness of joy and glory which
ravisheth the soul. Is it nothing to you to live for ever with God, and
to see his glory, and to be perfected in holiness and happiness ? This
is the end of the ways you walk in. Alas ! others can never have
solid comfort ; they know where they are, but they know not where
they shall be. When they die, they must go into an unknown world ;
yea, which is worse, to an unknown God, of whose love they never had
any taste or experience, and therefore cannot deal with him when they
come into his presence. But those that have lived always in the sight
of a world to come, and kept themselves in the way that leadeth thither,
they have solid rejoicing : Bom. v. 2, ' We rejoice in the hope of the
glory of God.' What though they be ill-treated for the present ? things
will be otherwise in heaven : Mat. v. 12, ' Bejoice, and be exceeding
glad, for great is your reward in heaven.' Well, then, from the whole,
the only satisfying delights of man can be nowhere but in the pardon
of sins, love of God, and the foresight of endless glory, which is alone
had in the paths of wisdom.
2. From the manner how it is obtained : ' Her ways are ways of
pleasantness, and her paths are paths of peace.'. It is by walking,
not by speculation. It is a ravishing thing to understand heavenly
doctrine, and to see the apt proportion and due connection between ends
and means ; especially when we have it not only upon tradition, but our
own search and study : Prov. xxiv. 13, 14, ' My son, eat thou honey,
because it is good ; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste :
so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to thy soul, when thou hast found
it ; then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut
off.' There is a comparison between the delights of the body and the
delights of the soul ; what honey is to the body, that is wisdom to the
soul. There is a ravishing sweetness in the study and contemplation
of truth ; when by searching, reading, hearing, meditating, we have
found it out, there is an incredible delectation. Alas ! wisdom and
knowledge to the ignorant and foolish world seemeth as wormwood, but
to the diligent, painful student it is as the honey and honeycomb. A
man in his study hath truer pleasure than the greatest epicure in the
most exquisite enjoyments of sense ; especially when this contemplation
is employed about divine truths, as salvation by Christ, reconciliation
with God, and eternal life. But the pleasure of contemplation is
nothing to the pleasure of practice. Why ?
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 17. 371
[1.] Because practice giveth a more experimental knowledge of these
things, for there they are confirmed and verified in ourselves. Wo
have not only a sight, but a taste. We have a sight by contemplation,
but we have a taste by practice ; and are more deeply and intimately
acquainted and affected with these things : 1 Peter ii. 3, ' If so be that
ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.'
[2.] The taste of these things is kept upon our hearts by serious
obedience and practice. If there beany taste by speculation, it is very
vanishing : it leaveth the heart little the warmer ; but here it abideth
and remaineth with us : John xv. 11, ' These things have I spoken
unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and your joy might be
full.' They were cheered when they heard Christ's comfortable
promise; but when they were in the pursuit and practice, it filled
their minds with more durable pleasure ; it abode in them in a more
full and constant manner. It is a flash of joy that is stirred up by
contemplation, but this of practice and fruitful obedience is a constant,
solid, and uninterrupted joy ; it doth not die away so soon as the
other.
[3.] Every holy action is rewarded by peace of conscience : 2 Cor.
i. 12, ' For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our -conscience, that
in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the
world/ Not every act of contemplation, for that is an imperfect
operation till the effect succeed, and so far as to be our common
practice.
[4.] Our title to the heavenly inheritance is more clearly made out
by practice. By knowledge we know what to seek after, but by
practice our right is confirmed. Knowledge directeth us in our duty,
but serious practice assureth our interest, and so our contentment is
doubled : John xiii. 17, ' If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye
do them.' Knowledge and speculation doth not prove the sincerity
of our hearts, but it is practice that hath the blessing in the bosom
of it.
[5.] By practice our will is conformed to the law and will of God.
Now the compliance of our will with the will of God carrieth a quiet
ing pleasure in it, for then it agreeth with its proper rule and measure.
Pleasure is applicalio convenientis. There is a pleasure in the con
formity of our apprehensions to the truth revealed or represented ;
but more in the subjection of our wills, either to the disposing will, or
to the commanding will of God, for then all is right as it should be.
The will lieth nearer the affections than the understanding, and
goodness is nearer to delight than truth.
3. From the part affected ; not the senses, but the heart and the
conscience : ' Thou shalt put more gladness in my heart,' Ps. iv. 7.
Carnal delights are like a night dew, that only covers the surface, but
spiritual delights are like a soaking shower, that goeth to the root ;
they tickle the senses, but this affects the heart. So Christ saith,
John xvii. 13, ' These things I speak in the world, that they may have
m7 joy^ fulfilled in themselves ; ' that is, that their hearts might be
filled with_ it, and feed on it as hidden manna. Now the more inti
mate any joy is, the more excellent. The joy of the world is empty ;
in the midst of it the heart is sorrowful. A joy. in outward things is
372 SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 17.
foreign, and taken in by the senses, or the musty vessel of the body,
but this is shed abroad in the heart. Which is more capacious, a deep
well or a little cup or glass ? You will say, There is no comparison.
No more is there between the delight and pleasure which carnal men
take, and the delight and pleasure that is found in the ways of wis
dom ; for carnal men take in all their delights by their corporal senses,
which are soon filled and overcharged ; the sense is easily glutted and
clogged ; but the heart and conscience have a greater capacity, and are
not easily satisfied with things proper to them.
4. From the author and exciter of these joys, which is the Holy
Spirit; and therefore it is called 'joy in the Holy Ghost,' Rom. xiv.
17. It is a joy of God's making : Ps. iv. 7, ' Thou hast put gladness
into my heart.' It is not only allowed by God, but wrought by him.
[I.] 'it is allowed by God. It is much to our satisfaction that it is
allowed by God. Many of the pleasures of ungodly men are forbidden ;
as James v. 5, * Ye have lived in pleasure upon earth, and been wan
ton ; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.' To
throng their hearts with vain delight heartens the enemy, and is
unsuitable to God's providential dispensations : Isa. v. 12, ' The harp
and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts ; but
they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of
his hands.' This is to defy providence, when there is nothing but
jollity and mirth in the day of our -Father's anger, or brethren's
miseries ; or else it is unsuitable to their condition, when such a black
storm hangeth over their heads : Isa. Ivii. 21, ' There is no peace to
the wicked, saith my God.' This is not the joy that God doth allow ;
not such as is baneful to our souls, or unsuitable to God's providences,
or to our state and condition. To sit down contented with the creature
on this side God, to sing lullabies to our souls when he is angry for sin,
this is not allowed ; this is to go to our execution dancing. But we
have God's warrant for this joy and peace ; it is never unsuitable,
never unseasonable : Phil. iv. 4, ' Eejoice in the Lord always, and
.again I say, Rejoice.' When we seek his favour in Christ, live in his
love and obedience to his will, we may still keep an holy feast or
maintain a continual joy.
[2.] But God doth not only allow it, but work it ; it is his gift,
wrought in us by his Spirit, the fruit of his love, promoted in us by
his promises : Rom. xv. 13, ' The God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power
of the Holy Ghost.' It is God that speaketh peace to our souls,
that reviveth the heart, healeth our wounds, and filleth us with a sense
of his love. It is a pleasantness and peace, that not only resulteth from
the rectitude of our actions, or is stirred in us by our own discourse,
but excited by the Spirit. Now, the Spirit's works are singular, and
•do much exceed the natural operations of man's own heart. His groans
are unutterable : Rom. viii. 26, ' The Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered.' And his joys unspeak
able : 1 Peter i. 8, ' In whom, though now ye see him not, yet believ
ing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' The heathens
counted that fire more fit for their altars that was kindled by a
sunbeam than by a coal taken from a common hearth. So this joy
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 17. 373
which is raised in us by the Holy Ghost is more rich and glorious than
that which is but the fruit of our own reason or our reflection upon our
ways. When he sheddeth abroad the love of God in our hearts, it is
more powerful and penetrating. Other joy is not wrought by God,
but at second or third hand. It is said, Acts xiv. 17, ' He gave us
rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and
gladness ; ' that is, he giveth them the matter of their joy, as he
blesseth the course of nature, and giveth fruitful seasons. Therefore
this is the true and solid joy.
Object. 1. But how are all wisdom's paths pleasantness and peace,
since there are many crosses and afflictions incident to a spiritual
life?
Ans, 1 . Spiritual joys and temporal adversities are no ways incom
patible : Bom. v. 3, ' We glory in tribulation.' The joy that resulteth
from the ways of wisdom is not always visible to the world. Believers
feast on the hidden manna : Kev. ii. 17, ' To him that overcometh will
I give to eat of the hidden manna.'
2. How afflicted soever we be for the present, there is an assurance
of future joys in another world : Heb. x. 34, ' Ye took joyfully the
spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that in heaven ye have a
better and an enduring substance.' So that this is a peace which
the world can neither give nor take away ; it dependeth on things out
of their reach.
Object. 2. Wisdom forbiddeth us many bodily pleasures.
Ans. 1. God forbiddeth no bodily pleasure but as it hindereth our
greater pleasure, as it tendeth to our hurt, such whereby the mind may
be perverted, or diverted from things spiritual, and so enchanted as to
lose the relish of the true felicity, and intermit our care of the way
that leadeth to it ; as the flesh-pots of Egypt made them ready to revolt
and neglect Canaan. So indeed God saith, 1 Peter ii. 11, ' Abstain from
fleshly lusts, which war against the soul ; ' as they bring a servitude
and a brawn and a deadness upon the heart : Titus iii. 3, ' We ourselves
also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts
and pleasures/ &c. ; as we are apt to love them more than God : 2 Tim.
iii. 4, ' Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ; ' as they bring a
brawn and a deadness upon the heart, and so make it incapable of that
sweet consolation which the Spirit worketh in us.
2. When the heart is mortified and subdued to God, there is no such
pleasure as the contempt of bodily pleasures. Quam suave milii subito
facium est, carere suavitatibus nugarum ! — How sweet is it to me to
want the sweetness of these trifles ! In some diseases it is a pleasure
to eat dust ; when the disease is cured, it is abhorred as a filthy tiling.
It is our distemper that leaveth the carnal relish so strong upon us ;
get rid of your distemper, and you will be ashamed of your brutish
satisfactions ; it is a diseased mind that looks after them.
Use 1. To remove prejudice. Men usually judge wisdom's ways
to be sour and bitter, whereas they yield great joy and pleasure to those
that walk in them. Here is peace for their consciences, and pleasant
ness to satisfy their affections. Who live the pleasant life, they that
walk upon the brink of hell every moment, or they who, being justi
fied by faith, are made heirs of eternal life, who look every day when
374 SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 17.
God will translate them into his immediate presence ? they that satisfy
their lusts by breaking God's law, or they that provide for the peace of
their consciences by observing and keeping it ? Who are like to be
most satisfied in their object, they that love a vain uncertain world, or
they that live in the love of God ? If men would but come and try
what it is indeed to believe in Christ, to live in the love of God and the
hope of eternal life, their prejudices would be soon confuted.
Object. But you will say, Your spiritual delight is but a fancy ; it
seemeth to be hard to forsake what I see, what I feel, what I taste, what
I love, for a God and a glory which I do not see, and it may be never
shall see.
I answer — It is no wonder. How can you see when you have no eyes ?
Faith is the eye of the soul : Heb. xi. 1, ' Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen ; ' and ver. 27, ' By faith
he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king ; for he endured
as seeing him who is invisible ; ' 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom having not seen,
ye love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory.' And how can you hope to
see while you are carnal, and your hearts do not suit with these things,
or ever experienced this joy ? But beg the spirit of wisdom and revela
tion : Eph. i. 17, 18, * That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of him ; the eyes of your understanding being en
lightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints ;' and return you
to him. Illumination and inclination conduce both to your cure ; for
this holy delight cannot be forced, nor drawn forth by bare commands
and threatenings. When the attractive goodness of the object is re
presented by the Spirit, the heart must be suited to it, and then you
will find this joy.
Use 2. To reprove two sorts of people —
1. Those that can find no pleasure in an holy life, that is, no ground
of pleasure. Is not God a delectable object? Is not salvation by
Christ a delightful speculation,. or such a glorious mystery as cannot
be found elsewhere ? Are not the promises of heaven comfortable
things ? If a man should adopt you into the succession of a crown,
would it not please you ? And is not God's promise more sure ? Is
not communion with God a pleasing exercise ? Heathens pretended to
secrecy with their gods as the greatest felicity. Needeth a Christian
pretend it ? Hath he not liberty to open his heart in secret ? Do you
ever come from your sports with such a cheerful soul as you come from
your duties ? Many have repented of their carnal mirth ; never any
of their godly sorrow. Which is better, to fill the body with diseases,
which is the part gratified by sin, and is more wasted than gratified,
or to enrich the soul with graces ? to deny the clamours of the flesh,
or the importunities of conscience ? or, which is all one, to offer vio
lence to our lusts or to our consciences ?
2. It reproveth them that live as if there were no pleasure in a course
of holiness. When others go merrily to hell, will you go drooping to
heaven ? I pray, whose work are you about ? Whither doth your
journey tend ? Are you sad because you have left Satan's service ?
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 17. 375
Was he a good master to you ? Or because it is now a part of your
business to tame and subdue the flesh ? Will that yield anything more
satisfying than the love of God ? It could yield you nothing but vain
pleasure, that, when gone, is but as a wind ; nay, it proves a whirlwind
in the conscience. Or is it because you have renounced the world ? Is
not heaven better ? Is God wanting in such worldly supplies as are
necessary for you ? Or is it because you thrive no more in holy en
deavours ? Is not God's grace sufficient for you ? Was he ever back
ward to do you good whilst you were labouring and striving to approve
yourselves to him ? Hold up your hearts : ' The way of the Lord is
strength to the upright/ Prov. x. 29.
Use 3. To press you to make trial. Kesolve upon an holy and
heavenly course, and then you are in the ways of wisdom : Ps. xxxiv. 8,
' 0 taste and see that the Lord is good ; blessed is the man that trusteth
in him.' Trust him upon his promises, before all be confirmed to you
upon experience. To this end consider —
[1.] We invite to pleasure, not to labour ; or to labour seasoned with
pleasure ; and pleasure is the lure that draweth all the world. By sen
sitive pleasure men are perverted : James i. 14, ' Every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lust a-nd enticed.' By holy pleasure
he is perfected.
[2.] We invite you not to pleasure only in another world, but plea
sure during service : Ps. xvi. 11, ' Thou wilt show me the path of life ;
in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures
for evermore/ But now, that we may not be tired with expectation,
there is pleasure, not only in the end, but in the way and path.
[3.] We invite you to continual pleasure : Phil. iv. 4, ' Rejoice in the
Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice/ In worldly joys there are
vicissitudes and subalternations ; now we rejoice, and anon we weep ;
there is joy when a child is born, and grief when he dieth ; joy when
our estate is increased, grief when it is lost; but the Lord is always
the same.
SERMON UPON PROVERBS El 31, 32.
Envy tliou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways; for thefro*
ivard are an abomination to the Lord, but his secret is with the
righteous. — PROV. iii. 31, 32.
IN these words we have — (1.) An admonition; (2.) A reason to
enforce it.
The admonition consists of two parts — (1.) Not to envy the oppressor ;
(2.) ' To choose none of his ways. The reason is propounded by way
of thesis and antithesis, the usual method of the proverbs ; wherein is
set forth the different condition of the prosperous oppressor, and the
suffering godly.
To prosecute every breach apart would take up more time than can
well be spared. The sum of the whole may be drawn into this obser
vation.
Doct. All things considered, the suffering godly have little or no
reason to envy the prosperous condition of wicked men in this world,
or be tempted thereby to take the same course.
Here I shall show you — (1.) What this envy is; (2.) That it is
incident to the godly; (3.) Why it so ill becometh the suffering
godly.
I. What this envy at the prosperity of the wicked is. Two words
must be explained ; one, which concerneth the act of the soul, ' envy ; '
the other the object, ' oppressor ; ' and in the 32d verse, ' froward.'
1. Envy. In the general, invidentia est vitium, quo alterius bono
contristamur. A sin by which we grieve at another's good, whether
hurtful to us or no. So carnal men are said to live in malice or envy,
Titus iii. 3. Fallen man is not only perverse to God, but grown
unsociable to men. They would shine alone, and think all is taken
from themselves that is given to another. This the apostle telleth us :
James iv. 5, ' The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy.' Such an
impropriating spirit is natural to us. Children suck it in with their
milk, vidi zelantem parvulum. Distinct from this, but like it, is
another sin, called 'emulation.' So among the works of the flesh
reckoned up, Gal. v. 19-21, in the 20th verse, 'emulation, wrath, strife/
are mentioned as distinct sins from envyings and murders ; where by
'emulation' is not meant that good 'emulation' whereby we strive to excel
others in that which is good, virtuous, and praiseworthy, but carnal
emulation, whereby we are grieved at the welfare of others, not so<
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 30, 31. 377
much froin hatred to their good, as because it over-shadoweth us;
wherein it differeth from envy, because an envious man doth not so-
much grieve because he wants that good himself, as that another hath
it. But emulation is an undue commotion of mind, not because
another hath good, but because we want it ; for envy is a base mali
cious passion, whereby we grieve at the good and prosperity of others,
without any endeavour to attain that good ourselves. There is yet a
third sin, and that is by the philosopher termed indignation, when we
are troubled, not so much because another man receiveth good, as at
the unworthiness of the person that enjoy eth it, because it falls to his
share to whom it least belongeth in our conceit and imagination;
wherein we deal with God as Joseph with his father Jacob, when a
prophetical instinct guided his hands. He thought his father had
erred out of blindness or want of sight when he laid his right hand on
the head of Ephraim the youngest, and his left hand upon Manasseh the
eldest : Gen. xlviii. 18, 'Not so, my father : this is the first-born ; put
thy right hand upon his head. I know it, my son, I know it,' saith
Jacob. So there is in us an indignation, as if God did preposterously
dispense his blessings and misplace his hands, when it falleth out unto
the righteous according to the work of the wicked, and to the wicked
according to the work of the righteous ; and thence the expostulation
of the saints, whereby they express this indignation against God's pro
ceedings: Jer. xii. 1, ' Kighteous art thou, 0 Lord, when I plead with
thee ; yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments : wherefore doth the
way of the wicked prosper ? wherefore are all they happy that deal
very treacherously?' Hab. i. 12, 13, 'Art thou not from everlasting,.
0 Lord my God, mine holy one ? we shall not die, 0 Lord ; thou hast
ordained them for judgment, and, 0 mighty God, thou hast established
them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
canst not look on iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them that
deal treacherously, and boldest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth
the man that is more righteous than he ? ' There is a fourth word,
%rj\oTV7ria, jealousy or obtrectation, which is a trouble of mind arising
from this, that another, in our conceit unworthy, enjoyeth that which
we desire, or jealousy lest they take away our Father's blessing from
us. Such was the hatred and envy of Esau against Jacob, when he
had gotten the birthright from him ; and in after times the envy of
Ephraim against Judah, which the prophet speaketh of. Now there
is all 'this in the sin spoken of in the text. There is envy in the
general, or a grief and trouble at those good things which others enjoy ;.
only herein it differeth, because we are troubled at the exaltation of
the wicked, as they have more power to hurt ; and so this envy is not
a bare grief, but a sort of fear : there is emulation in it, because there
is a desire to excel ourselves, as well as a grief at their respect, honour,
and happiness. There is besides indignation in it, because we appre
hend them unworthy, and so are troubled ; which trouble may be good,,
so far as it doth not exceed bounds, and doth only quicken us to prayer ;
for it is an evil that we may lay to heart and mourn for. There is an
holy mourning for it, as under a judgment : Prov. xxix. 2, ' When the
righteous are in authority, the people rejoice ; but when the wicked
bear rule, the people mourn ; ' Prov. xi. 10, ' When it goeth well with
378 SERMON UPON PROVERBS TIT. 30, 31.
the righteous, the city rejoiceth ; but when the wicked perish, there is
shouting.' It is a disorder that may be regretted, but yet we must
take heed of fretting against the Lord. We may complain of it to
God : Ps. xii. 1, ' Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faith
ful fail from among the children of men ; ' and ver. 8, ' The wicked
walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted.' But there is a
difference between complaining to God and complaining of God.
This indignation groweth sinful when it exceedeth measure, and tempts
either to atheism against God, manifested by a dislike and suspicion of
God's providence, or to seditious attempts against men. And lastly,
there is in it jealousy, because we desire that happiness which they
have, or are offended at it, because it seemeth to tend to our preju
dice, and the reproach and burden of our cause ; and so degenerateth
into that %rj\ov 'Trt/cpbv, James iii. 14, ' bitter zeal.' We translate it,
' bitter envy ings,' or that secret discontent and grudge that we take at
their advancement or esteem. Well, then, in this envying there is a
grudge, and an indignation, and an evil inordinate emulation of their
happiness.
2. The object is expressed in the word oppressor, or man of violence;
in the 32d verse, the ' froward.' The one noteth the disposition of his
heart ; he is froward : the other the evil of his practice ; he oppresseth,
or seeketh to bear down others by violence. The froward, prcefractus ;
the hard, inflexible man, that is, confirmed and settled in his evil
purpose ; refractory opposers of the ways of God. Mark, it is not the
wicked or undeserving in the general; a man may be tempted to
envy them ; but the froward and oppressors, such as are maliciously
and obstinately bent to do mischief to us. Though the advancement
of such may be apprehended as a burden and judgment, and so com
plained of to God, especially as it is likely not only to prejudice our
interest and comfort of life, but as contrary to God's honour and
interest, or as it tendeth to the increasing or confirming of wickedness,
yet we should not fret at it ; first, as if they were happier than the
godly, lest we be tempted to let go our innocency ; secondly, as if we
did tax the providence of God of injustice ; thirdly, to be stirred up
thereby to any undue practice ; fourthly, that our quarrel should not
be the main reason of that sense we have of this disorder, our ease, our
•credit, our revenge, lest it be like Jonah's anger, Jonah iv. ; not so much
ior God's honour, as his own, lest he should be accounted a false
prophet.
II. That the people of God are subject to fall into this distemper of
•envy at the prosperity of the wicked the scripture everywhere witness-
<eth. David is an instance : Ps. Ixxiii. 3, * I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.' So Jeremiah, so Job, so
Habakkuk, so all the saints. Here in this lower world, where our hopes
are unseen and to come, and our trials are so many, and the flesh is so
importunate to be pleased, and the wicked, being of the earth, have so
much of earthly happiness, as nettles, that grow of their own accord,
will thrive better than choicer plants ; especially when we ourselves
are burdened and straitened. Now this troubleth the children of God,
that bastards should be better fed than sons, that they whom God
hateth should seem to have more of the Father's love, care, and
blessing.
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 30, 31. 379
III. That there is little reason yet why the people of God should be
so affected, if you consider — (1.) The condition of the wicked; (2.)
Tlie state of the suffering godly ; (3.) The mischievous nature and
effects of this envy.
1. The condition of the wicked, though never so much exalted.
That is represented in the text : ' Envy not ; for the froward are an
abomination to the Lord.' Mark, it is not only said, God hateth them,
but abominateth them. There is not only odium inimicitice aut
offensionis, a hatred of enmity, but abomination and abhorrence ; when
a thing is done contrary to our will, or when a thing or person is
contrary to our nature. So God is not only angry with them, but
hateth them, and that is enough to make them miserable.
[1.] Observe here, that the suffering godly, the spiritual blessings
which they have, they have with God's love, and cannot but have them
so, for these are not given in anger ; but we cannot say so of the
wicked's prosperity and success, that they have this with the love of
•God ; they have it from the hand of his providence, but his heart is
not with them, for the froward are an abomination to the Lord ; which
showeth that their felicity is no true felicity, for it is such as may con
sist with God's hatred. This consideration, that the Lord abhorreth
wicked men, as it showeth that they themselves can have no solid
satisfaction in their estate, be it never so high, plentiful, and prosperous,
for they cannot for all this say that God loveth them : Eccles. ix. 1,
' No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.'
Yea, they may determine by the word, if wicked, that God hateth
them ; they are but fattened to destruction, as swine for the slaughter.
The curse of God sticketh to them when they eat their plentiful morsels
of meat, put on their gorgeous apparel; they have this thought to
sour all, God hateth them. I say, as this consideration lessens the
comfort and satisfaction of wicked men, so should it abate, yea, take
away, the envy of the children of God. God is displeased with them,
what plenty and pomp of living soever he affordeth them by the bounty
and indulgence of his providence. Surely those whom God hateth are
objects of pity rather than envy, if their condition were well considered;
still they are under the wrath of God. Certainly the people of God,
when appointed by man as sheep to the slaughter, being under the
love of God, are in a happier condition than wicked men, that are fat
ted for destruction, and under the wrath of God ; ' for it is not the
wrath of man, or the favour of man, that maketh us miserable or happy,
but the love and hatred of God. Who was in the better condition,
Daniel among the lions, or Nebuchadnezzar among the beasts ? In a
sober mood, which would you choose ? The love of God can sweeten
the bitterest cup that ever a believer drank off ; but, if it were rightly
apprehended, to be liable to his hatred is the saddest thing in the
world ; it is the sting of miseries and the curse of blessings.
[2.] Observe, to be hated and rejected of God should be esteemed by
us as one of the greatest calamities that can befall a poor creature, as
to be accepted with him one of the greatest blessings : Ps. iv. 6, 7,
* There be many that say, Who will show us any good ? Lord, lift thou
up the light of thy countenance upon us ; thou hast put gladness in my
heart more than in the time when their corn and wine increased.'
. 380 SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 30, 31.
(1.) On one side we have the matter compared, their good things,,
their corn and wine ; not sinful, but lawful comforts. (2.) It is pro
posed with a supposition of increase, not in the wane. (3.) For the
time, take it at best, when this joy is most lively, at the time of vintago
and harvest. (4.) The persons, their corn and wine; not different
godly men, in whom these things are refracted and broken, not the-
same godly man, in whom these different desires are found. On the-
other side, there is — (1.) The matter and ground of gladness, the light
of God's countenance : Jer. ii. 13, ' My people have forsaken me, the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns,' &c. They
drink of the cistern, you of the fountain ; they rejoice not in God, but
his gifts, and those not saving, but the common sort, such as riches,
pleasures, honours ; and in these, not as the effects of God's bounty,
but as happening to them in the ordinary course of second causes ; as
they rejoice in an uncertain good, so in an uncertain author. You rejoice
in God, in his best gifts, his love and grace. (2.) The author, ' Thou
hast put ; ' allowed by God, wrought by him : Horn. xiv. 17, ' Joy in
the Holy Ghost/ stirred up by his Spirit. Their joy is neither God's
allowance nor God's work. (3.) The subject and seat, ' Into my heart ; '
not to tickle the senses, but delight the heart ; not as the morning dew,
but as a soaking shower. (4.) The measure, more pure, more sublime,
or more cheering, that is, of a stronger efficacy, which not only over-
cometh the sense of present infelicity, but the fear of death, hell, and,
judgment to come : Heb. vi. 18, la"xvpav TrapdicXrja-iv, ' Strong consola
tion.' They dance about the brink of hell, have their secret gripes ;
and will you envy them, as if your condition were not much better ?
When God hath given you the feast, will you be troubled that others
should have the scraps and fragments of his bounty ?
[3.] Observe, from the supposition of God's abomination of their
persons and courses, that he can when he pleaseth easily ruin and
destroy them, which must needs infer at least an uncomfortable
uncertainty in their condition. The wicked being objects of God's-
hatred, the easiness of their destruction is often asserted in scripture :
Job v. 3, ' I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed
his habitation ; ' Ps. xxxvii. 20, ' But the wicked shall perish, and the
enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs ; they shall consume,
into smoke they shall consume away/ The fire licketh up the fat of
lambs, which is not a very solid substance, but easily melted ; so shall
their glory vanish and be consumed in God's wrath, when he is pleased
to let it out upon them : Ps. xxxvii. 2, ' They shall soon be cut down
like the grass, and wither as the green herb/ Though they seem to be
in a prosperous condition for the present, as grass while it is growing
is very green, yet they are soon cut down by the scythe of Providence,
and then presently fade, and are carried away as grass from the place-
where it grew : Ps. cxviii. 12, ' They are quenched as the fire of thorns/
Though for the time it burneth and flameth extremely, yet they are-
soon consumed, and are turned into dust and ashes : Ps. Ixxiii. 18,
' Surely thou didst set them in slippery places/ And it is notable that
all these places do intimate that God can easily destroy them, and
usually doth, when the}r are at their prime ; and that they are never
nearer their ruin, than when they come to the height of their exaltation.
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 30, 31. 381
As the sun declineth presently when it cometh to the highest point of
the zenith ; as grass, when it cometh to its full growth, it beginneth to
wither ; as the sacrifice is first fatted, and then killed before the Lord ;
so enemies are permitted to prosper, and grow great and proud, and
then are cut off. Or as thorns die, and are extinguished by their own
blaze, so in slippery places, the higher they go, the nearer to their
downfall and ruin ; as men on the top of an hill, and there have no
firm footing, they slip and fall, and by the highness of the ground are
more sorely bruised. And as by the expressions of scripture, so by
God's providence it appeareth how easily he can subdue wicked men.
God did not bring down Egypt by bears, and lions, and crocodiles, but
flies, frogs, and lice. The walls of Jericho fell, not with force of arms
and engines of battery, but rams' horns, Josh. vi. 6; the tents of
Midian with trumpets and earthen pitchers, Judges vii. 7. The city
•of Nesibis was freed from a long siege only by gnats, at the prayers of
his people, when Sapores king of Persia thought to have his will upon
ihem, as Theodoret witnesseth. God sent such clouds and swarms of
them, which flying into the mouths of their elephants and horses, dis
turbed their whole camp. And should we envy them to whom God
oweth an evil turn, and can so easily ruin, though nothing appeareth of
it ? Once more, observe how the scripture representeth the uncertain
condition of the wicked with the stable condition of the godly : Prov.
xi. 28, ' He that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but the righteous shall
flourish as a branch.' The one is compared to a leaf, the other to a
branch. So Prov. xii. 12, ' The wicked desireth the net of evil men,
but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.' Men who have no grounds
in them of piety and godliness are for the present only ; and when they
see the prosperity of the wicked, and how they thrive in their evil
designs, taking up men as fishes in the waters, they are willing to get
into the net too, even run with company ; but the root of the righteous,
which hath its growth underground, not seen by fleshly eyes, this root
will grow up again, and yield abundance.
[4.] God will not always bear with them that are an abomination to
him, but hath his times of showing his hatred of them and their evil
courses ; for if they are an abomination to him, and he never show it,
they need not care, and so it inferreth not only a possibility, but a
certainty of their destruction : Ps. xcii. 7, ' When the wicked spring
as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that
they •shall be destroyed for ever.' The end of all their flourishing and
temporal prosperity is perdition; yea, their very prosperity, as it
ferments their lusts, and hardens their hearts, and encourageth them
to acts of violence, becometh one means to draw on their ruin the
sooner : Ps. Ixxiii. 17, ' I went into the sanctuary of God, then under
stood I their end/ God's vengeances are due to them, and one time or
other shall be inflicted : Ps. xxxvii. 13, ' His day is coming ; ' Ps. xxxvii.
38, ' But the transgressor shall be destroyed together ; the end of the
wicked shall be cut off.' Though long deferred, vengeance cometh at
last, to the full, and cuts them off. You think providence doth not
deal righteously because the unworthy are exalted and the worthy
depressed ; tarry but a while, and you will have no cause to complain,
or grow weary of godliness, or to cry up a confederacy with evil men.
382 SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 30, 31.
Who would envy those that climb up the ladder for execution, or are
carried to the top of a rock to be thrown down thence and broken in
pieces, or think Haman preferred because advanced above others on a
high gallows ? Would you envy a man on the gallows because he
standeth above the rest of the company ?
2. The state of the suffering godly. Wicked men, you see, are
under God's displeasure, which will one day break out upon them, and
consume all their temporal happiness ; but in what state are the
godly ? consider their future hopes and their present enjoyments, they
need not envy them.
[1.] Their future hopes. Their possessions are not to be compared
with your hopes : Ps. xvii. 14, 15, ' From men which are thy hand,
0 Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life,
and whose belly is filled with the hid treasure ; they are full of children,
and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. But as for me, I
will behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied, when I awake,
with thy likeness.' Men are dazzled with the splendour of worldly
happiness, and think it a fine thing to be well fed, and well clad, and
well attended, but this is all for them and theirs ; and shall we envy
them for this, that they have more for back and belly than we have, a
little pomp of living, especially when such great things be provided for
us in Christ ? Alas } what is a more plentiful table to the everlasting
fruition of God ; the pomp of the world to the honour Christ will put
on us at the day of judgment, when he shall be admired in his saints ;
the favour of princes to seeing God face to face ; vainglory to ever
lasting glory ; their momentary pleasures, which pass away suddenly as
a dream, to that everlasting pleasure at God's right hand ; a little
decking and adorning of the body, to be satisfied with his likeness,
and to walk with God in white ?
[2.] Present enjoyments. Here I take in the notion of the text,
'His secret is with the righteous/ There is some difference what
should be meant by ' the secret of the Lord.' Sometimes it noteth —
(1.) Spiritual illumination, or the knowledge of God's will: Ps.
xxv. 14, ' The secret of the, Lord is with them that fear him ; he will
teach them his covenant.' They know more of God's mind than others
do, and they know it not only literally, but spiritually ; that is, by the
lively light of the Spirit, not disciplinarily. Now this is a great favour,
that God doth so love them, that he doth admit them to his arcana: John
xv. 15, ' I have called you friends ; for all things that I have heard of my
Father I have made known to you.' It is a greater evidence of God's
friendship to understand his counsel in the word, and to be acquainted
with the mysteries of godliness, than all the success, power, and great
ness of the world. Christ gave his Spirit to the rest of the apostles, but
his purse to the son of perdition. Some have knowledge and eminent
gifts, others wealth and honour ; yea, though they which increase
knowledge increase sorrow, yet the knowledge of a despised, hated truth,
though it expose us to sufferings, is better than to flourish in opposi
tion against the ways of God, through our ignorance, obstinacy, and
blind prejudice. And will you, that are directed in the way of salvation,
advanced to know God, and the tenor of his will, far more than the
blind, carnal, careless world, envy them that are only acquainted with
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 30, 31, 383
Christianity as a report, or tradition calculated and formed to a worldly
interest ?
(2.) The secret of the Lord may intend not only direction in our
duty, but satisfaction about God's dispensations, for our consolation in
all afflictions. God helpeth them to interpret his providence better
than others, called ' the secrets of wisdom,' Job xi. 6. And should the
saints, whose graces make them so sharp and eagle-eyed, that know
more of God's mind than others in these very dealings which are so-
troublesome and offensive to them, should they envy the oppressor,
and be so discontented to suffer a little, that have more skill thai*
others to look into God's ways, and consider the course of his pro
ceedings ?
(3.) ' Secret' may imply the visible blessings of God's providence ; so
it is said, Job xxix. 34, ' The secret of the Lord was upon my
tabernacle.' The singular love God bore to him did preserve him,
and did guide him and his family, and made all his affairs prosper :
Ps. xxxi. 20, 'God shall hide them in the secret of his presence.1
When they seem to be left open as a prey to the oppressions and
injuries of their potent adversaries, yet there is a secret guard upon
them, and they are kept the world knoweth not how. Now, should
such as are hedged round about with the guard of a secret blessing
leave their refuge for the defence of a little interest in the world, which-
God hateth, and can soon blow upon ? Ps. xci. 1, ' He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of
the Almighty.'
(4.) ' Secret' may note the intimate familiarity that is between God
and them, and that inward consolation which they have with God in
a course of holiness which is hidden from the world : 1 John i. 7,
' But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another ; ' John xiv. 21, ' He that hath my commandments
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall
be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and manifest myself to
him.' Many secret refreshings, visits of love, expressions of grace, are
bestowed upon them. Now, have such any cause to envy others ? They
that walk with God, meet him at every turn, are so often comforted
and quickened by the manifestations of God, and the influences of his
grace : Ps. xvii. 15, 'As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness.'
The psalmist preferreth his present condition before the greatest
happiness of carnal men, because he had opportunities of beholding the
face of God, or enjoying the comforts of his presence. This is as if a
child fed with manchet should envy a slave for being fed with the
bread of sorrows.
3. The nature and mischievous effects of this envy ; for it is not so-
tame an evil as the world doth imagine.
[1.] It disposeth to fretting or murmuring against God's holy
providence : Ps. xxxvii. 1, ' Fret not thyself because of evil-doers,
neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity ; ' Prov. xxiv.
19, ' Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at
the wicked.' It notes a certain taxing of God's providence, as if he
did not rightly govern the world.
[2.] It tempteth to apostasy from God's ways to the ways of the
wicked ; that is in the text clearly : ' Envy not the oppressor, and
384 SERMON UPON PROVERBS* III. 30, 31.
choose none of his ways ; ' implying that this emulation of their happi
ness will draw you to cry up a confederacy with them, and to enter into
their lot and net : Prov. xxiv. 1, ' Be not thou envious against evil
men, neither desire to be with them.' When we admire their happi
ness, it secretly enticeth our hearts to take share and lot with them.
A man is perverted by this envy ; it weakeneth our fear of God, out
value of spiritual blessings, expectation of things to come, and dili
gence in God's service.
[3.] It implieth and includeth many evil principles which tend
directly to the weakening of faith, hope and piety. (1.) It implieth or
includeth this principle or opinion, that the felicity of a man consisteth
in these external good things which the wicked enjoy, which is an error
destructive to godliness ; for change a man's chief good and last end,
and all goeth to wreck and disorder, for the whole life is seasoned by
it. They call the proud happy, and therefore envy them. (2.) It
includeth this principle, that it is in vain to depend upon God in a
course of duty and holiness ; that we may shift better and carve better
for ourselves : Mai. iii. 14, ' Ye have said, It is in vain to serve God, and
what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances? ' Ps. Ixxiii. 11-13,
' And they say, How doth God know, and is there knowledge in the
Most High ? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world ;
they increase in riches ; verily I have cleansed my heart in vain.' (3.)
It includeth an opinion of our own worth and merit, as if we deserved
more at God's hands, as if all happiness were but our due debt ; which
destroyeth all humility : Luke xvii. 10, ' When ye shall have done all
those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable
servants, we have done that which was our duty to do.'
Use 1. To reprove us, and humble us for this envying the wicked.
It appeareth partly by our troubling and vexing ourselves so much at
the sight of their prosperity. We are so dejected at it, as if God had
done nothing for our souls, as if all our happiness were gone, and lay
in outward things. We should chide ourselves for this : Ps. xlii. 5,
' Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul, why art thou disquieted within
me ? Hope thou in God ; I shall yet praise him, for the help of his
countenance.' Partly by our questioning providence and murmuring
against providence, as if all things were not under the government of
God : Exod. xvii. 7, ' They tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord
among us or not ? ' Judges vi. 13, 'If the Lord be with us, why then
is all this befallen us ? ' Or as if we had deserved more than he giveth
us : Isa. Iviii. 3, ' Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest
not ? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no know
ledge ? ' Partly by our proneness to choose their ways, and weariness of
the good course wherein we are engaged. Alas ! how have we lost
our way, and been hurried to and fro in this time of trial, like light
chaff. As Cyprian observeth, De Lapsis : Adprimum statim verbum
minantis inimici, fidem suam perdit nee prostratus est, persecutionis
metu, sed voluntario l&psu seipsum prostravit, &c. We give out at
the first assault ; yea, before assaulted ; at the very blast and rumour
of a temptation.
2. Envy them not. Let it enforce the admonition of the text. Now.
for remedies, let me —
[1.] Eecommend those three radical graces, faith, fear, and love.
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 30, 31. 385
(1.) Faith, that we may see afar off, and look beyond the present
condition : 2 Peter i. 9, ' He that lacketh these things is blind, and
cannot see afar off.' Faith showeth us there are other good things
after this life, with which these present unstable good things are not
to be compared, nor so much as called good things. The use of faith
is to be, Heb. xi. 1, ' The evidence of things not seen, the substance of
things hoped for/ Some are of so weak a sight, that without their
spectacles they can scarce see anything except those that are so bulky
and great that they are not only seen but felt ; but if they use their
spectacles, they can see afar off. In a perspective-glass men can dis
cern ships at sea at a great distance. All carnal men see nothing but
those corporeal things which dogs and horses see ; they know it is
good to eat well and drink well and sleep well, increase by trade, or
follow after vain pleasures ; but faith giveth an eagle's eye, that can
see, beyond all the clouds of the lower world, an invisible God, and
heaven at a distance. Yea, faith is necessary to see the vanity of present
things : Ps. xxxvii. 35, 36, ' I have seen the wicked in great power,
and spreading himself like a green bay-tree : yet he passed away, and
lo ! he was not ; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found ; ' that
we may not look too much to sense and appearance, that we may not
judge rashly of matters as they show for the present ; but remember
all flesh is grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass.
(2.) The fear of God is necessary : Prov. xxiii. 27, ' Let not thine
heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of God all the day long.' Fear
is always necessary, that we may be sensible of his providence, to
suppress all murmurings, and to moderate our desires of earthly
things ; to keep us as with a bridle from putting forth our hands to
iniquity.
(3.) Love is also necessary. Love to God and his ways : Ps. cxix.
165, ' Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend
them ; ' they do not easily stumble. So to men : 1 Cor. xiii. 5, ' Cha
rity envieth not.' We are apt to be grieved at the good of others, and
their preference before ourselves. We should rejoice in others' good
as our own : 1 Cor. xii. 26, ' The members should have the same care
one for another ; and whether one member suffer, all the members
suffer with it, or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice
with it.'
[2.] A due estimation and value of our privileges, though spiritual
and future. They are not worthy of the favour of God that do not
prefer it above all worldly things whatsoever , even one drachm of his
love : Heb. xi. 26, ' Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures in Egypt ; for he had respect unto the recompense
of the reward.' In the darkest times of trouble you are in a better
state than they. A Christian sees nothing under the sun truly great
and worthy his envy ; nothing worthy to be compared with what he
enjoyeth in Christ.
[3.] A sound judgment about providence, and a right interpretation
of God's dealing with us. If the just should be always prosperous,
and the wicked always miserable, religion would be a matter of sense ;
so, on the contrary, if the just should have always evil, and the wicked
always good, it would tempt to despair; therefore providences are mixed.
VOL. xvni. 2 B
386 SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 30, 31.
The present state is a state of faith ; we are justified by faith, we live
by faith, we walk by faith. Now the state of faith requireth this, that
the manner of God's government of worldly affairs should neither be too
perspicuous nor too obscure, but be carried on in a middle way ; as the
morning is a middle thing between the darkness of the night and the
light of high noon ; for, if it were too clear, sense would do all, there
would be no need of faith ; if it were too obscure, faith would be too
muoh discouraged ; therefore- the righteous are not always happy, and
the wicked always miserable. It would not be a dispensation suitable
to God's end, which is to try our respects to him. Yea, the fear and
hope of temporal reward would be the greatest motives to keep the
law of God, and men compelled to own, rather than choose, that which
is good. Therefore, that men may understand that the good and evil
of the world is not our last reward or punishment, our greatest happi
ness or greatest misery, God doth not always comfort the just with
these good things, nor punish the wicked with the contrary evils. On
the one side, if good men were always miserable, what a grievous
temptation would this be to the weak ! We should then think, ' I
have cleansed my hands in vain.' Therefore God mixeth the dispen
sation of these outward things. Though piety be the only way to
obtain them, and to have them by promise, and with satisfaction and
a blessing, yet sometimes he giveth to his enemies that which he
denieth to his children, that he may exercise our faith and patience ;
and sometimes he punisheth the wicked, and delivereth the godly
that he may show his providence. Well, then, a right judgment about
providence would much stay our hearts. Two things you may be
confident of—
(1.) That no evil can befall you without God's hand and counsel.
It must first pass through the hands of God before it can reach you ;
for as nothing can be done against his will, so nothing without his
will : ' The hairs of your head are numbered,' Mat. x. 30. The devil
asked leave to go into the herd of swine. Now this is a great comfort,
that you do not fear the sword if you do not fear him that weareth
the sword. God can stop all evil, and will, when it is for our profit
and his glory ; for he loveth us more than a mother her only child.
If thou hadst an enemy that hath a purpose to take thee away by
poison, and he could not any ways do it but by telling thy parents of
his purpose, and asking their leave, yea, and must have the poison
given thee by them, wouldst thou be troubled and perplexed ? for
how could it be that thy parents would conspire with thine enemy to
thy death ? This is the case ; God loveth his people, gave his only-be
gotten Son for them ; neither men nor devils can do anything against
them without God's leave.
(2.) God being just, wise, and good, doth dispense all human affairs
with great wisdom, sweetness, and equity. The judges of this world,
when they have the guilty in their hands, do not' presently pass sentence,
but proceed gravely and with mature advice, examine witnesses, con
sider the cause, seek to draw out the truth by confession, and then
afterwards at a certain day pass sentence ; so God now heareth accus
ations, divers complaints, examineth witnesses, prepareth all for judg
ment, and in time all things that seem to be in trouble and confusion
are put into an orderly frame.
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
SERMON I.
The tongue of the just is as choice silver; the heart of the wicked is
little worth. — PKOV. x. 20.
THERE are three operations of man — his thoughts, speeches, and actions.
By these we are discovered, and these we should make conscience of.
Two of them are represented in this scripture — words and thoughts ;
and we cannot make conscience of the one unless we make conscience of
the other; for the tongue will follow the constitution of the heart:
' The tongue of the just is as choice silver ; the heart of the wicked is
little worth.' In the words observe —
1. The things opposed, ' The tongue of the just/ and ' The heart of
the wicked.'
2. The price and value of each, ' Choice silver/ and ' Little worth.'
1. For the first, we must inquire why tongue and heart are opposed ?
Because ' out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh/ Mat.
xii. 34. So that if we would prevent the evils of speech, we must
cleanse the heart. The tap runneth according to the liquor wherewith
the vessel is filled ; if the heart be little worth, the speech will be vain
and frothy.
2. The value and worth. The one is as choice refined silver, the
other is little worth. This metaphor showeth that an unsanctified
heart is a drossy heart. There is a fj,eia>cri<; in the expression ; it doth a
great deal of hurt.
I begin with the first part, 'The tongue of the just;' that is, the
words and speeches which he uttereth with his tongue. And more
particularly, it is opposed to a flattering tongue : ver. 18, ' He that
hideth hatred with lying lips ; ' a detracting tongue, to him ' that
uttereth a slander ; ' to a prattling tongue : ver. 19, ' In the multi
tude of words there wanteth not sin.' But now 'the tongue of the
just ' is when a just man speaketh like a just man. Then the predicate ;
it is as ' choice silver/ both for internal purity and external profit and
use: Prov. viii. 19, ' My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold,
and my revenue than choice silver.' It is refined, and worthy to be
attended unto and embraced ; and in this sense it is true, verba valent
sicut nummus. Its acceptableness, value, and profit are intimated in this
similitude.
Doct. That a good man, speaking or behaving himself as a good
man, will and should confer and discourse with others to edification.
388 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
I shall prove it —
I. From the quality of the person here described. It is a just man.
By that term is meant —
1. A renewed man ; for naturally our lips are polluted: Isa. vi. 5,
' Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.' Sin in the tongue
is most frequent, and that not without difficulty avoided. It proceedeth
from the corruption of the heart, and discovereth the pollution which
lieth hid there, and by venting increaseth it. The orator said of some
body, Nullum unquam verbum, quod revocare vellet, eum emisisse — that
he never uttered a word that he desired to retract. But surely he
meant it of the art of speaking, not of the grace of speaking ; at best
it was but a false flattery. The corruption of men by nature is other
wise described by the apostle : Kom. iii. 13, ' Their throat is an open
sepulchre ; with their tongues have they used deceit ; the poison of asps
is under their lips.' This is man's true character as he is in his natural
estate ; and whatever gifts of eloquence and plausible speech they are
endowed with, yet this doth but hide corruption, not clire and mortify
it The pure lip is the fruit of God's converting grace : Zeph. iii. 9,
' For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may call
upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.' And as
the powerful change which grace worketh in us is shown in other
things, so in the tongue also.
2. A man furnished with knowledge of the things which concern
his duty ; for every renewed man is an enlightened man ; for it is said,
Prov. xv. 2, ' The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright, but the
mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.' Unless a man understand his
duty, how shall he speak of it ? So Prov. xvii. 7, ' Excellent speech
becometh not a fool ; ' in the Hebrew it is, ' The lip of excellency.'
Ignorant men can no more discourse of religion than blind men can of
colours.
3. This renewed man is a mortified man ; for otherwise he will only
stickle for opinions, and be one of the disputers of this world, but will
not warm men's hearts, and excite them to practice. That must be
first upon the heart which will afterwards be upon the tongue ; and
unless the heart be cleansed, the tongue will not be cleansed. If the
heart be upon the world, the tongue will most commonly be upon the
world : 1 John iv. 5, ' They are of the world, therefore they speak of
the world, and the world heareth them.' If the heart be proud, the
tongue will be employed in boasting of ourselves, and in contempt of
others : Luke xviii. 9-11, ' And he spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised
others : Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a pharisee,
and the other a publican. The pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.' If the heart be unclean,
the speech will not be very savoury ; but rotten communication will
as easily proceed from us as a putrefied breath doth from rotten lungs ;
or else it is but a force, when the voice is Jacob's and the hands are
Esau's ; when you talk chastely and the heart swarmeth with noisome
lusts ; or when you talk piously and godly when the heart is vain and
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 389
sinful, and we despise religion in our souls ; or when the words are
patient when the heart swelleth against providence. First you must
cast salt into the spring ; the corruption of the heart must be overcome
before the corruption of speech can be prevented. The use of the
tongue is to express the mind.
4. This renewed man must be biassed with a love to God and Christ
and heaven before he can edify others with serious counsel, exhortation,
or reproof. This referreth to vivification. To restrain the tongue
from evil is not enough, but we must do good. Now, how wretchedly
and coldly do they speak of God, Christ, and heaven whose hearts are
not set on God, Christ, and heaven 1 How can they make others
sensible of that which they believe not themselves? To heart
warming discourse, faith is necessary : 2 Cor. iv. 13, 'We having the
same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore
1 spoke ; we also believe, and therefore speak.' Love is necessary ; they
that speak from love, their affection will leave a tincture upon their
discourse, for they have some experience of the things they speak of :
2 Cor. i. 4, ' Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be
able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort where
with we ourselves are comforted of God.' How sweetly do all their
speeches relish of the spirit from whence they do proceed ! They speak
feelingly ci God, and Christ, and the life to come ; whereas otherwise
a report of a report is a cold thing, and beareth no value, hath no
efficacy on the hearts of those that hear it. Well, then, from the
whole you may observe, that there is a difference, an observable
difference, between the discourse of the people of God and others;
their lips drop as the honeycomb, because they are renewed, that is,
enlightened as to their minds, converted and mortified as to their hearts,
and vivified. Men usually discourse as their hearts are ; a man of a
frothy spirit will bring forth nothing but froth and folly; as their
hearts are filled with such things, so are their mouths ; but a gracious
man will utter gracious things, and that with savour. Take one place
more: Ps. xxxvii. 30, 31, 'The mouth of the righteous speaketh
wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment: the law of his God is in
his heart ; none of his steps shall slide.' As men's hearts are busied and
affected, so will discourses flow from them. He that maketh it his
business to suit his actions to the word of God will also suit his words
thereunto ; for grace discovereth itself uniformly in thoughts, words,
and actions.
II. I prove it from the attribute, or commendation here given to his
discourse ; it is ' as choice silver.'
1. For internal purity, choice silver is that which is refined from all
dross. There is a great deal of evil bewrayed by the tongue. It is hard
to enumerate all the kinds. The apostle imputeth to it ' a world of
iniquity,' James iii. 6 ; but these are the most usual —
[1.] Lying, which destroyeth all commerce with man, for truth is the
ground of commerce ; and is most contrary to the new nature : Col. iii.
9, ' Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man with his
deeds.' It is not only contrary to the natural order which God hath
appointed between the mind and the tongue, but that simplicity and
true holiness which is the fruit of regeneration. Therefore God saith,
Isa. Ivui 8, 'Surely they are my people, children that will not lie.'
390 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
God presumeth that his people will not deal falsely, and deceive and
circumvent others by any untruth, as a thing very unseemly and incon
sistent with grace.
[2.] Bailing, under which I comprehend all censorious and calum
nious discourse of other men ; when we cannot meet together, but instead
of edifying ourselves, we must be speaking of others, blemishing their
graces, carping at their weaknesses, aggravating their failings, divulging
their secret miscarriages, without any just reason from the glory of God
and the profit of others. This the scripture brandeth as a very bad
sign, as an ill temper of spirit : James i. 26, * If any man among you
seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own
heart, this man's religion is vain.' Censuring is a pleasing sin, very
suitable to corrupt nature, which destroyeth both the love of God and
our neighbour ; but it is a very bad sign. It is made to be the hypo
crites' sin, who, being acquainted with the guile of their own hearts,
are apt to suspect others, and disgrace their best actions, and upon the
ruin of other men's credit would raise their own reputation. And as
they show an ill spirit in ourselves, so do they hurt to others, and
they are contrary to that justice and charity which we owe to them :
Prov. xxvi. 22, ' The words of a tale-bearer are as wounds, and they
go down into the innermost parts of the belly.' They wound men's
reputation insensibly, and strike them with a blow that smarteth not,
but destroyeth their service ; and by these privy defamations and whis
perings men's hearts are alienated from many choice useful servants
of Christ.
[3.] There is ribaldry : Eph. iv. 29, ' Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth.' Christians are accountable for their words
as well as their actions, and scurrilous, obscene discourse ill becometh
them that are, or should be, of a clean heart. So Col. iii. 8, ' But now
you also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy com
munication out of your mouths.' Such evil communications show a
corrupt heart from whence they do proceed ; and they convey the taint
to others ; for ' evil communication corrupts good manners ; ' the heart
of man being as tinder or powder, easily catching at every spark that
sets the flesh on fire.
[4.] Proud and arrogant speaking, when all our discourse is a self-
boasting. Pride in the heart loveth to vent itself, sometimes by the
eyes (we read of haughty eyes and a proud look), but usually by the
tongue ; all their discourses are to set off themselves, and to usher in
something of themselves ; or if religion be talked of, it is to commend
their own knowledge, their own notions, their own zeal for Christ :
1 Sam. ii. 3, ' Talk no more so exceeding proudly ; let not arrogance
come out of your mouth ; ' Acts v. 36, ' Boasting himself to be some
body.' A proud ostentation of our own worth and excellency is
a sort of dross, from which an holy tongue must be purged and
refined.
[5.] Cursing and swearing. I join them both together, because
usually they proceed from the same root. Cursing is a wishing some
evil upon ourselves, and swearing is a solemn appeal to God; and
usually profane and bold spirits, that make little conscience of truth,
are very apt to both, to wish direful imprecations upon themselves,
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 391
and to take God's name in vain upon all occasions. Now the name of
God should not he worn threadbare, but used upon just and great occa
sions. Surely those that have true grace will not make light of God,
but use his name, or anything by which he is brought to our remem
brance, with great reverence. To make a byword of his dreadful name
is to contemn and slight him to his face. If his people must take heed
how they use it in prayer and praise, must not you take heed how
you use it in ordinary speech ? You propagate your sin, for you bring
his name into contempt with others. You pray, ' Hallowed be thy
name ; ' and will you profane it in common talk ?
[6.] Another evil is scorning and deriding at the power of godliness,
and that strictness which is necessary to save our souls. When you
see others make conscience of sin, you make a mock of it : Prov.
xiv. 9, ' Fools make a mock at sin.' When others live self-denyingly
and mortifiedly, you deride and speak evil of them : 1 Peter ivi 4,
' Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them into the
same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.' And will God take it well
that his best subjects should be mocked for their fidelity in serving
him ? Hatred of the power of godliness is so natural to us, that we
cannot sufficiently be cautious against making godly and holy men
contemptible.
[7.] Idle discourse and foolish garrulity, which tendeth not to the
glory of God or the good of our neighbour, and serveth for no good use.
For these we must be judged: Mat. xii. 36, 'I say unto you, That
every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account there
of at the day of judgment.' Light words may weigh heavy in God's
balance, and these argue a vain frame of heart. Now a temperate use
of honest mirth, or the use of wit, is not these idle' words, but when men
give up themselves to such a, frothy vanity that they cannot be serious,
but reflect upon the personal imperfections of others, or use impious
jests, or abuse scripture to express the conceptions of a vain wanton
mind. There must be a guard upon our speech, that in the general it
tendeth to the profit of others. This is a taste of that profane discourse
which is forbidden to Christians, and any of this, if allowed, argueth a
rotten and unrenewed heart, and is unsavoury to godly ears, and con
tagious and infectious to ordinary hearers : 1 Cor, xv. 33, ' Evil com
munications corrupt good manners ; ' and doth make the heart more
vain, while the corruption that is in it doth strengthen itself by getting
vent ; for when the fire that is kindled in our bosoms flieth abroad in
these sparks of discourse, our reverence of God is loosened and weakened,
and we lie more open to Satan.
2. For external profit. The commerce of the world is driven on by
money, that is profitable for worldly uses ; so is the discourse of a good
man as choice silver, very profitable to others : Eph. iv. 29, ' Let no
corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is
good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.'
Surely for many reasons should we thus employ our tongues. So it is
said, Prov. xv. 7, ' The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the
heart of the foolish doth not so.' Men usually discourse as their hearts
are. A man of a frothy spirit will bring forth nothing but vain and
frothy discourse, but a gracious man will utter holy and gracious
392 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
things. Now we should be more careful to use our tongues to edifying,
for these reasons —
[1.] Our tongue is our glory : Ps. Ivii. 8, ' Awake, my glory ; awake,
my psaltery and harp ; ' Ps. xvi. 9, ' My heart is glad, and my glory
rejoiceth.' Compare it with Acts ii. 26, ' Therefore did my heart re
joice ; and my tongue was glad.' So Ps. xxx. 12, ' To the end that my
glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent ; ' that is, my tongue.
But why is our tongue our glory ? Because thereby we express the
conceptions of our minds. It was not given us to taste meats and
drinks ; for that use the tongues of the brute beasts serve them. Speech
is the excellency of man above the beasts ; but Christianity giveth us
an higher reason, because thereby we may express the conceptions of
our minds to the glory of God and good of others : James iii. 9,
' Therewith bless we God, even the Father.' That is our glory, that
we can not only think of God, but speak of God, his word and works.
[2.] Because holy conference and edifying discourse is one means of
spiritual growth and mutual improvement : Prov. xvi. 21, ' The wise
in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of his lips increaseth
learning.' The more he venteth what he knoweth, the wiser himself
groweth, and learneth by teaching others ; for thereby it is more im
pressed upon his own heart, as the loaves are multiplied by being
divided, as venting sin and folly increaseth sin and folly. But as to
others : Luke xxii. 32, ' When thou art converted, strengthen thy
brethren ; ' either by cautioning them, that they fall not in like manner,
or helping them to recover out of the mire of sin. And the apostle
saith, 2 Cor. i. 4, ' Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we
may be able to comfort them which are in trouble with the comforts
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.' As in the celestial
bodies, whatever light the moon and stars receive from the sun, they
bestow it on these inferior bodies ; they have their light from the sun,
and they reflect it again on the creatures below ; or as, in the body of
man, the heart and liver receive and drive the blood and spirits to all
the other parts ; so what we receive from God, as good stewards we
should dispense it again, and so propagate the knowledge of God in the
world, which is better than gold and fine silver.
[3.] It is a great comfort and quickening to confer together of holy
things : Eom. i. 12, ' That I may be comforted together with you, by
the mutual faith both of you and me.' It is a far sweeter thing to talk of
the word of God and spiritual and heavenly things, than to employ our
tongues in vain and foolish mirth, or discoursing about mere worldly
matters. Should anything be more delightful to a Christian than God,
and Christ, and heaven, and the promises of the world to come, and the
way thither ? And therefore surely we should take all meet occasions to
confer of these things. Certainly our relish and appetite is mightily
depraved, to judge ourselves as in a prison when we are in good company
who remember God ; and when they invite you to remember him with
them, will you frown upon the motion because it is some check and
interruption to carnal vanity ? Had you rather hear the ravens croak
or the nightingale sing ? the grunting of a swine or the melody of an
instrument ? Such a difference there is between vain and worldly talk
and heavenly discourse.
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 393
[4.] The well-ordering of our words is a great point of Christianity,
and.argueth a good degree of grace. -He that bridleth his tongue ia
a perfect man : James iii. 2, ' If any man offend not in words, the same
is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.' And Solomon
saith, Prov. xviii. 21, ' That death and life are in the power of the tongue.'
Upon the good or ill use of it a man's safety doth depend ; not only
temporal safety, but eternal. And a greater than Solomon tells us, Mat.
xii. 37, ' By thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shalt
thou be condemned.' Therefore it concerneth us to look to our discourses-
as well as our actions. Solomon often describeth the righteous by his-
good tongue : Prov. x. 31, ' The mouth of the just bringeth forth wis
dom ; ' Prov xii. 8, ' The tongue of the wise is health.'
The first use is to* inform us —
1. What an happiness it is to converse with just and renewed men :
' Their tongue is as choice silver/ You are enriched by converse with
them with such treasures as, if you were well in your wits, you would
prefer above fine gold and choice silver ; and so showeth what teachers
you should live under, and what families you should put yourselves into,
if you be at your own disposal, and what company you should choose.
You should go into the mines, those places where the vein of choice
silver is to be had.
2. That it is not enough to avoid evil communication, but our speech
must be ordered by grace, to the benefit of others. Besides vain babbling,
there are two defects : some are dumb and tongue-tied in holy things ;
they can speak liberally of any subject that occurreth, but are dumb in
spiritual matters, which concern edification. Men show so little grace
in their conferences because they have so little grace in their hearts.
Many carry it as if they were ashamed to speak of God, or had nothing
to say of him or for him. You are not bound always to speak of
religious things, but sometimes you are bound. Now when do you inter
pose a word for God in a serious and affectionate manner ? Others
jangle about disputable opinions, and all their talk is controversy, as if
the plain and uncontroverted points were not worth the owning ; yet
in these the life and power of godliness consisteth ; this is like leaving
bread, and gnawing upon a stone. In nature necessary things are
obvious ; so in the universe of religion, to inculcate on each other the
vital truths and the most necessary duties. Controversies have their
place, but the ordinary discourse of Christians should be about the
most necessary things.
3. To show us what need there is that we should be just, holy, and
righteous. If we would profit others by our discourses, two things are
necessary — that we should be enlightened and mortified.
[1.] That we should be enlightened by the Spirit of grace. If we
would teach others the way of God, it is necessary that we ourselves
should be taught of God. It cometh warmer and fresher from us
when we speak not by hearsay only, but experience. As heart
answereth to heart, so the renewed heart in him that heareth to the
renewed heart in him that speaketh, and we show others what God
by his illuminating grace hath first showed us. Then it savoureth
of the spirit that worketh in both; he that is all on fire himself
\vill more easily enkindle others. Alas ! good things pass through
394 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
many like water through an empty trunk, without feeling ; they may
speak very good things, but they do but personate and act a part.
When God hath bound up our wounds, we do more feelingly speak
to others. Certainly we are apt to speak oftenest of those things which
we do most affect. When we have a true discerning of the excellency
of holy things, our speeches about them will be more frequent, lively,
and savoury.
[2.] That we be mortified and dead to carnal things ; for we cannot
conceal our affections, whether they are bent to the things of the flesh
or to the things of the Spirit. Till the heart be cleansed and we mortify
our sinful inclinations, from whence thoughts and words proceed, they
always obey the ruling power. A good man will be known by his dis
course ; so will the carnal. The froward will speak froward things,
and the sensual of what is grateful to the flesh, and the worldly of
what is suitable to their worldly designs; and knowledge doth not
guide us here so much as inclination ; for speech is but the overflow
of the heart.
The second use is of exhortation, to press us to employ our tongues
to the use of edifying.
1. Let us be much exercised in reading and meditating on the
•word of God, and get a good stock of sound scriptural knowledge : Mat.
xii. 35, ' A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth
forth good things.' Every man entertaineth his guests with such pro
vision as he hath. He that taketh money out of his pocket, if it be
stored with gold, or silver, or brass farthings, as his stock is so will the
draught appear. The word of God is that which enableth us to edify
ourselves and others with holy conference ; the more store, the more
we have to bring forth upon all occasions: Col. iii. 16, 'Let the word
of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another.' A plentiful measure of gospel knowledge enableth us to
instruct others and direct others. There all wisdom is made plain,
things revealed which cannot be found elsewere ; that which by long
search we get in the writings of heathens, is there made ready to our
hands, and brought down to the meanest capacity. If the heart be
well furnished, the tongue will not be barren and empty.
2. Having your furniture, get those graces which may quicken you
to employ it, as zeal for the glory of God and love to souls. Fire turns
all about it into fire. Mules and all creatures of a mongrel race do
not procreate : 1 John i. 2, 3, ' For the life was manifested, and we
have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life
which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us. That which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have
fellowship with us ; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and
with his Son Jesus Christ." And David's Maschil, Ps. xxxii., title is,
' A psalm giving instruction.' True good is diffusive of itself. When
Philip was called, he inviteth Nathaniel to come to Christ, John i 45 ;
and Andrew, Simon, ver. 41. True zeal showeth itself by a zeal to
promote the kingdom of Christ and the good of souls ; and the new
nature seeketh to multiply the kinds ; and they who are really brought
to Christ will be careful to invite others.
3. We have need to pray to God that he will touch our tongues with
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 395
•a coal from the altar ; that is, by his Spirit purify our speech : Isa. vi.
6, 7, ' Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in
his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And
he laid it upon my mouth, and said Lo ! this hath touched thy lips
and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged.' That we may
show forth nothing of pride, and passion, and carnal affection, but
speak upon all occasions with a pure zeal for him. And again, that he
would open our lips : Ps. li. 15, ' 0 Lord, open thou my lips, and my
mouth shall show forth thy praise ; ' that he would cast out the dumb
devil. The habit of grace, without continual influence to act it effec
tually, will not do its work ; the habit is a gift, and the bringing forth
of the habit to exercise is another gift.
4. Watchfulness and heed -is necessary, otherwise corruption will
break out. There is a quick intercourse between the heart and the
tongue. Pride will show itself in a vain ostentation of parts ; passion
in some heat of words ; worldliness and sensuality will bewray them
selves, and divert us from holy conference to that which is carnal and
worldly ; discontent in some unseemly expressions of God's dealings
with us ; indiscretion and folly in a multitude of impertinent talk :
Ps. cxli. 3, ' Set a watch, 0 Lord, before my mouth ; keep the door
of my lips.' The tongue must be watched as well as the heart ; all
watching will be to little purpose unless God bridle and curb our
tongues, that nothing break out to his dishonour ; but this constant
guard is necessary.
SERMON II.
The tongue of the just is as choice silver; the heart of the wicked is
little worth. — PROV. x. 20.
I COME to the second branch, ' But the heart of the wicked is little
worth.'
Doct. That an unsanctified heart is a drossy heart, of no value and
use as to heavenly things.
1 . Let me explain this aphorism.
2. Confirm it by reason.
3. Apply it.
I. To open it — (1.) What is meant by the ' wicked ' man ? (2.)
What by his ' heart ' ? (3.) In what sense it is ' little worth ' ?
1. What is meant by the wicked man ? Ans. One that is not
regenerate or renewed by the Holy Spirit. They are of several sorts ;
some are more gross in the outbreakings of sin, others please the
flesh in a more plausible and cleanly manner ; the one are usually
called wicked and profane persons, but others are comprised also :
Ps. xiv. 3, 'They are all gone aside; they are altogether become
filthy ; there is none that doeth good, no not one.' They are all in the
state of nature, and their corrupt hearts are vile and loathsome in God's
sight.
396 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
[1.] Some have great natural abilities and gifts; as Achitophel :
2 Sam. xvi. 23, ' And the counsel of Achitophel, which he counselled
in those days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God ; '
yet his heart was nothing worth as to God's acceptance and his own
salvation, as the issue declared.
[2.] Some have plausible shows of piety and external worship ; yet
while the heart is unrenewed, that will not help the matter : Mat. xxiii.
27, 28, our Lord compareth them to ' whited sepulchres, which indeed
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and
of all uncleanness ; even so ye also appear outwardly righteous to
men, but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.'
[3.] Not only the gross dissemblers, but those that are brought so
far as to a partial obedience ; yet this availeth not if the heart be not
cleansed and renewed ; as it is said of Amaziah, 2 Chron. xxv. 2, ' He
did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a per
fect heart.' It was right in the matter, and he did many things right,
but his heart was nothing worth.
[4.] Though men act like themselves, and have no ' condemning,
disallowing thoughts' within themselves, as conscious to any partiality
and defect in their obedience, yet God still looketh to the heart, to see
whether it be drossy or pure gold : Prov. xvi. 2, ' All the ways of a
man are clean in his own eyes, but God weigheth the spirits.' He
puts the heart into the balance of the sanctuary. Men blinded with
self-love are partial in their own cause, and, when the action is fair,
overlook an unsanctified heart ; but the Lord considereth it exactly,
quo ammo, with what spirit everything is done.
2. What is meant by the heart ? Not that fleshy part which is in
the midst of the breast, but the soul with all its faculties, understanding,
will, and affections ; and this considered not as to its natural capacities
and properties, but as corrupted by sin. Now great is the pravity and
deep is the corruption of man's heart by nature, and that not only as
to the disorder and disobedience of the inferior faculties, but as to
he leading part of the soul — (1.) In order to God ; (2.) As to inferior
things.
[1.] In order to God. (1.) In the understanding, there is not only
ignorance, but indisposedness to know the truth, set forth by the
notions of darkness and blindness: Eph. v. 8, 'Ye were sometimes
darkness ; ' 2 Peter i. 9, ' He that lacketh these things is blind, and
cannot see afar off.' He hath no spiritual discerning. This is worse
than bodily blindness, because men are not sensible of it: Kev. ih.
18, ' And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor;,
and blind, and naked;' and because they seek not fit guides to lead
them : Acts xiii. 11, ' And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon
thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for many days :
and immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness, and he went
about seeking some to lead him by the hand.' But these cannot
endure them. (2.) Vanity, and slightness, and folly : Mat. xxii. 5,
' They made light of it ; ' Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation ? ' Jer. iv. 14, ' 0 Jerusalem, wash thy
heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be clean : how long shall vain
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 397
thoughts lodge within thee ? ' 1 Cor. iii. 20, ' The Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise, that they are vain ; ' Prov. xxii. 15, ' Foolishness is
bound in the heart of a child. (3.) Stupidity : Deut. xxix. 3, 4, ' The
great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those
great miracles ; yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive,
and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto this day.' (4.) Obstinacy:
Ezek. xi. 19, ' I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh.'
There is wilfulness and hardness of heart. (5.) Enmity, both to the
law, Bom. viii. 7, ' Because the carnal mind is enmity against God,
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,' and also
to the gospel : 2 Cor. x. 4, ' Casting down imaginations, and every
high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.'
[2.] As to inferior things. When the heart is turned off from
God, it goeth after vain things : 1 Sam. xii. 21, ' And turn ye not aside,""
for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver,
for they are vain.' And so the heart groweth ' earthly, sensual, and
devilish,' James iii. 15, wholly carried out to pleasures, profits, and
honours. Now consider —
(1.) What is within such an heart : Gen. vi. 5, 'God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.' This is the
mint that is always at work ; there is no respite by day nor by night.
Sin worketh in the heart all day, and playeth in the fancy all night ;
there is no truce in this warfare.
(2.) What cometh out of the heart : Mark vii. 21, 22, ' For from
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasci-
viousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness : all these things
come from within, and defile the man.' This is the heart which is
here considered.
3. In what sense it is little worth — (1.) As to acceptation with
God ; (2.) As to the benefiting and profiting of others.
[1.] As to acceptation with God. That will appear by the expres
sions God useth about the contrary, that is, the renewed heart. It is
that he longeth for : Deut. v. 29, ' Oh, that there were such an heart in
them that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always ! '
He delighteth in it, as the other is an abomination to him : Prov. xi.
20, 'They that are of a froward heart are an abomination to the
Lord ; but such as are upright in their way are his delight.' He
commendeth and approveth it : Kom. ii. 29, ' But he is a Jew that is
one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and
not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God ; ' 1 Peter iii.
4, ' Whose adorning let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which
is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which
is in the sight of God of great price.' When the inner man is adorned
with grace, then we are in very high esteem with the Lord. This is a
beauty which always keeps fresh, and which God is pleased to esteem
and reward. Yea, in such an heart God dwelleth : Eph. iii. 17, ' That
Ohrist may dwell in your hearts by faith/ It is his chamber of
398 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
presence, or strong citadel, from whence he commandeth the other
faculties and members : Isa. Ivii. 15, ' For thus saith the high and
lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy : I dwell in the
high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit.' There God taketh up his lodgings ; as in the highest heavens,
so in the lowest heart. Once more, this heart is so pleasing to him,
that he pardoneth many failings where the heart is upright : 2 Ohron.
xv. 17, ' But the high places were not taken away out of Israel ; never
theless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days/ It is a comfort when
dying : 2 Kings xx. 3, ' Remember now, 0 Lord, I beseech thee, how
I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have
done that which is good in thy sight.' And they are finally blessed :
Ps. cxix. 2, ' Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek
him with their whole heart.' Well, then, this is the heart which God
accounteth of, and by this you may soon understand that the other is
little worth.
[2.] As to the benefiting and profiting of others. Certainly an heart
of so little esteem with God doth little promote his interest with the
world. This is that which is asserted in the text ; where observe with
me these six things —
(1.) That the heart of the wicked is spoken of in the softest terms.
Elsewhere it is said to be ' deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked,' Jer. xvii. 9 ; set upon mischief : Ps. xxviii. 3, ' Mischief is in
their hearts ; ' but here it is ' little worth.' And this teacheth us that
it is not enough not to do harm by our speech, but our discourse should
have savour and worth in it, such as may benefit others. Every tree
that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down. Some men pro
pagate the taint of the common corruption by their converses ; but if
we avoid that, do we seek to stop the pollution of mankind by whole
some and sound speech ?
(2.) That it is not enough to speak much, but is there any real
worth in our discourse ? otherwise it is but the overflowing of a drossy
unsanctified heart.
(3.) Here are compared a good man's words and a wicked man's
thoughts. Good men's words are of great price, but wicked men's
thoughts are of no value ; the one's tongue is better than the other's
heart ; the mischief lieth near their hearts.
(4.) That we must make conscience not only of our words, but thoughts.
Men are cautious in their speeches and how they discover themselves ;
but they think thoughts are free. No ; heart-sins are sins as well as
the sins of the tongue and life : Pr'ov. xxiv. 9, ' The thought of foolish
ness is sin ; ' they are contrary to the law of God. Therefore David
saith, Ps. cxix. 113, ' I hate vain thoughts.' Usually we take more
liberty in our thoughts than in our words and actions. Men will not
rob, steal, murder, or assault the chastity of a neighbour's wife ; but let
their hearts run riot in coveting, and that is theft in the heart; or lust
ing, and that is adultery in the heart : Mat. v. 28, ' Whosoever looketh
on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart ; ' or malice and revenge, and that is killing in the
heart.
(5.) That till we make conscience of our thoughts, we cannot well
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 399
order onr words with gravity and profit ; for the heart hath an influence
upon the tongue : Ps. xxxvii. 30, 31, ' The mouth of the righteous
speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment ; the law of his
God is in his heart/ And those that are either contriving sin or mus
ing upon vanity will bewray themselves in their speeches.
(6.) That familiar converse with those whose hearts are nothing
worth will little tend to our profit, but rather to our hurt ; for to this
end is it spoken by the Holy Ghost, to direct us in the choice of our
company. They that have the spirit of grace are most likely in their
discourses to minister grace to the hearers, and should be most accept
able to those that have the same spirit, and can savour spiritual things.
If we are as in a prison when we are in good company who use gracious
talk, it is none of the best signs. Our souls are grown out of relish
with spiritual and heavenly things if such kind of discourse doth not
please us. Surely this is the company that is most likely to be most
fruitful and profitable to us : Prov. xx. 15, ' The lips of knowledge are
a precious jewel/ But in vain and idle company what can you meet
with but vanity and that which is little worth? a trifle, not a jewel,
impertinency, levity, folly, immodesty, worldliness. Pride is all that
you can gather from others, and we have too much of this ourselves
already. Depraved nature needeth no helps to deprave it more, but all
the means of cure that can be used: Prov. x. 21, 'The lips of the
righteous feed many, but fools die for want of knowledge/ Surely then
it will be our wisdom to be intimate with those that discourse of holy
things, where you may have something of value ; but nothing but
idle talk is to be expected from them whose hearts are nothing worth.
II. The reasons.
1. Because they are not furnished with those graces which do serve-
in munimentum, ornamentum, or emolumentum, which may serve to
defend their own souls, or be delightful in the eyes of God, or make
them profitable to others ; and those are faith, hope, and love. They
never felt the quickening virtue of faith, nor were wrought by it to the
true love of God and an holy and heavenly mind. Those that were
never acquainted with the virtue of faith, and the power of divine love,
and the quickening efficacy of an heavenly hope, certainly they have
base, dead, poor, and unworthy spirits, and can do no eminent thing
for God in the world, nor for the salvation of their own souls. I prove
it from the use of these graces. They are in munimentum for defence :
1 Thes. v. 8, 'But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love ; and for an helmet the hope of salvation ; '
Horn. xiii. 12, ' Let us put on the armour of light/ Grace is our sure
defence against the taint of the sensual, ignorant, and brutish world.
These have a spirit that carrieth them to God and divine and heavenly
things, and so are clarified and purified from the dregs of sense.
Faith purifieth : Acts xv. 9, ' Purifying their hearts by faith/ Love
purifieth : 1 Peter i. 22, ' Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying
the truth, through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see
that ye love one another ; ' and hope purifieth : 1 John iii. 3, ' He that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.' Again,
these graces serve in ornamentum, for ornament, to make us amiable
in the sight of God and men ; and therefore holiness is called ' an orna-
400 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
ment of great price,' and the righteous are called ' the excellent ones of
the earth,' Ps. xvi. 3, whereas the wicked are called ' vile persons/ Ps.
xv. 4 ; and Prov. xii. 26, ' The righteous is more excellent than his
neighbour.' He hath an heart which others have not, and a spirit to
which they are strangers. And it is said of Daniel, that he had ' an
excellent spirit found in him,' Dan. vi. 3. Certainly there is not such
a noble spirit in the world as that of a true Christian. Again, they
are in emolumentum et utilitatem, for profit. These things are given us
to profit others : 2 Peter i. 8, ' If these things be in you, and abound,
they make you that ye shall not be barren, nor unfruitful in the know
ledge of Christ Jesus our Lord/ Now fruitfulness is for the honour
of Christ and the good of others : ' They shall make you.' A man can
have no rest or peace in his soul till he be useful and fruitful ; and they
cannot satisfy themselves with doing a little good, but still they must
do more, for these graces do mightily enlarge the heart of a man, that
they are not satisfied unless they take all occasions of promoting the
glory of God and the good of souls. Faith, working by love and hope,
constraineth them.
2. They are biassed with carnal affections and inclinations, which
fill their minds with vanity, or are seasoned with the wisdom of the
flesh, so that all they speak and do hath a tang of it; therefore
their spirits are slight, drossy, sensual. Take in all the operations of
the soul, they study to please the flesh, they value all things by the
interests of the flesh. But because thoughts are principally intended
here as the fountain of our speeches, I shall only instance in them ;
and —
[1.] I take for granted that the wisdom of the flesh is that which
inclineth and disposeth us to savour and relish the pleasures, honours,
and profits of the world. These are the three baits : 1 John ii. 16,
' All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life ; ' and the wisdom of the flesh suiteth with them :
James iii. 15, ' This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly,
sensual, devilish/
[2.] The operations of our minds are either — (1.) Aoyta-fjuol, dis
courses and reasonings ; (2.) Ovfjujaeis, musings and imaginations ; or
(3.) Nori/tara, contrivances and devices ; and the hearts of carnal
and unsanctified men are wholly taken up about these things.
(1.) Aoyurpol. All the debates and discourses of their minds are of
no value, and tend to no serious and profitable use. Certainly men's
affections have an influence upon their opinions, and their opinions have
an influence upon their thoughts ; therefore those who make the flesh
their principal rule and end, they have in their hearts many corrupt
principles and opinions about the things of God, and against the being
of God : Ps. xiv. 1, 'The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God;'
that it is folly to deny present advantages for a future and unseen
happiness : 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; ' that there is no
profit in serving of God : Job xxi. 15, ' What is the Almighty that
we should serve him ? or what profit shall we have if we pray to him ? '
that the ways of God are grievous and unequal : Ezek. xviii. 25, ' Yet
ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal ; ' that they shall do well
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 401
enough : Deut. xxix. 19, ' And it come to pass, when he hears the words
of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have
peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart to add drunken
ness to thirst.' Now their minds being tainted with these conceits,
their reasonings within themselves suit with them ; and though the
thoughts of God sometimes rush into their minds whether they will or
no, yet they are soon smothered there, and these are the thoughts where
with they secretly please themselves, and whereby their lives and actions
are influenced and governed. They look upon God's glorious titles as
nothing else but fine words, his providence as a thing they cannot
reasonably deny ; but they resolve to stand on their own legs, and think
they may serve their turn without him. They think others that pray
not are as prosperous as those that do ; and filling their minds with
these thoughts, certainly their hearts are nothing worth.
(2.) @vjji^a-ei<i, for their musings ; they are admiring their own
excellency, and blessing and applauding themselves in their sensual
felicities which they enjoy in the world : Dan. iv. 30, ' And the king
spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the
house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour
of my majesty ? ' So Ps. cxliv. 12, ' Happy is that people that is in
such a case.' The covetous and ambitious find a favour in their
thoughts of present wealth, riches, vainglory, applause ; the filthy and
unclean in the thoughts of their brutish pleasures. A sure rule it is,
the heart will be upon the treasure : Mat. vi. 21, ' For where your
treasure is, there will your hearts be also.' The glutton on pleasant
meat and sports. Nay, the ordinances of God cannot divert them:
Ezek. xxxiii. 31, ' And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and
they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they
will not do them ; for with their mouth they show much love, but
their heart goeth after their covetousness.'
(3.) Nar^aTa. Their contrivances and counsels are to accomplish
their worldly ends : Eom. xiii. 14, ' Make no provision for the flesh, to
fulfil the lusts thereof.' Not how to glorify God or save their souls,
but how to enrich, promote, and advance themselves, and gratify their
brutish lusts. Now when the hearts of men are taken up about such
low and base things, they are nothing worth. To conclude, if men's
thoughts were but written upon their foreheads, how ashamed would
they be to have such an infinite variety of blasphemous reasonings,
filthy, malicious, covetous thoughts exposed to open view ! Surely
then you would be ashamed to see with what filth and vanity you feed
the pleasure of your minds, with what dross and rubbish you stuff your
hearts. They are seen to God : Ps. cxxxix. 2, ' Thou knowest my
down-sitting, and mine up-rising ; thou understandest my thought
afar off.' And they will be publicly seen at the day of judgment : 1
Cor. iv. 5, ' God will make manifest the counsels of the heart.'
Use 1. Let this humble us, for this was the temper of our hearts ;
they were the devil's nest, where his eggs are cherished, and we our
selves set abrood to hatch sin. Instead of being full of holy thoughts
and motions and inclinations towards God, they are stuffed with vanity
and sin. Sometimes pride employeth our thoughts, and sometimes
covetousness, and sometimes revenge, and sometimes uncleanness.
VOL. XVIII. 2 C
402 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
Our hearts are averse from God, and pronely inclined to the world and
the false inferior happiness. Such an heart it was, where all good is,
like fire in wet wood, easily quenched ; and all bad, like a spark in
gunpowder, soon kindled. Our hearts by nature are styes of all filthi-
ness, foolishness, perverse, deceitful, vain, earthly, proud, self-loving.
We were neither allured by promises, nor frightened by threatenings,
nor reclaimed by the powerful reasons of kindness and love. We were
unthankful for mercies, obstinate under corrections, forgetting what is
past, neglecting what is present, slighting what is to come. What is
this heart worth ? good for nothing, unless God change it. You must
bemoan it to God as Ephraim : Jer. xxxi. 18, ' I have surely heard
Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was
chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke ; turn thou me, and
I shall be turned.' Alas ! of ourselves we cannot subdue and tame this
obstinacy. By art man can melt the hardest metals, and yet cannot
soften his own heart. No creature so stubborn and wild but ' they are
tamed, or have been tamed of mankind,' James iii. 17. But yet it
passeth our skill to subdue ourselves to God.
2. Be sure that you get another heart ; for though it be not in our
power to make to ourselves a new heart, yet it is our duty to get it ;
and, as creatures in misery, we must use all means we can, whatever
be the event. We can abstain from gross sins, such as adultery, forni
cation, wantonness, drunkenness, gluttony, and the like ; we can go to
the ordinances as well as to the resorts of vain companions ; we can
read the holy scriptures as well as worldly histories ; we can be con
vinced of our impotency and misery out of the word of God. We need
not increase our bondage and impotency by indulging carnal affections,
and so put more impediments in God's way by prosecuting our worldly
and fleshly lusts. If you will cherish your vainglory, ambition,
sensuality, covetousness, rather than resist it, and feed the distemper,
no wonder that our chains are the more fastened upon us. We may
seek help of God, who hath promised to give us a new heart and a new
spirit : Ezek. xxxvi. 26, ' A new heart also will I give you, and a. new
spirit will I put within you ; and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh, and will give you an heart of flesh.' Therefore this is
that we should seek after. Would you have God to force grace upon
you, and give you a benefit which you have no mind to ask or receive ?
do but attend upon the work with earnestness ; see how the heart of
the carnal is made spiritual, of earthly is made heavenly, of sinful is
made holy, of obstinate and disobedient is made tractable and teachable,
of vain is made solid and serious. Besides, God often sendeth in holy
motions and inspirations, reproving our sloth and negligence, and
exciting us to get a better heart. When he draweth, will you run ?
Cant. i. 4, ' Draw me ; we will run after thee.' When he knocketh,
will you open to him ? Kev. iii. 20, ' Behold, I stand at the door and
knock ; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in
to him, and sup with him, and he with me.' When he bloweth, will
you put forth the sails ? John iii. 8, ' The wind bloweth where it
listeth.' When the waters are stirred, will you put in for cure?
What shall I say more ? Though you have not grace, you have
reason and conscience to consider of the vanity of all these things,
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 403
which pervert your hearts, and make them so bad as they are. And
how. miserable a thing it is to have a drossy, unsanctified heart, even
though your life should be never so blameless ? Now the Spirit of God
calleth upon us to show ourselves men : Isa. xlvi. 8, ' Remember this,
and show yourselves men ; bring it again to mind, 0 ye transgressors.'
And if you will never sit alone, and commune with yourselves about
these weighty matters, your condemnation is just motives to quicken
us, how much it concerneth you to get your hearts sanctified.
[1.] Because of the two great competitors, God and Satan, how
earnest they are for the heart. It is God's choice : Prov. xxiii. 26,
'My son, give me thy heart.' This is that which God craveth, and
every good man should say, Lord, I give it unto thee. It pleaseth God
to hide our hearts from one another's knowledge ; but he seeth them,
whether they be kept in a right frame, yea or no. Men are incom
petent judges of the heart, therefore they look to the outward appear
ance ; but God's eye is upon the heart : 1 Sam. xvi. 7, ' Man looketh
unto the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart ; ' Ps.
xli. 6, ''Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the
hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.' If we have a wise
and understanding heart, a choice and excellent spirit. On the other
side, it is that which Satan striveth for most ; the greatest contest
between God and Satan is, who shall have the heart of man ? as Acts
v. 3, ' Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost ? ' So
Luke xxii. 3, ' Then entered Satan into Judas.' Then he gets into the
man when he gets into the heart : John xiii. 2, ' The devil having now
put into the heart of Judas to betray him.' This is the castle the
enemy would surprise ; he maintaineth his interest there by vain and
sinful thoughts.
[2.] The importance of the heart as to our speeches and actions. It
is fons actionum ad extra, the fountain of all our outward actions.
We bring everything out of the heart : Mat. xii. 35, ' A good man out
of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things, and an
evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.' The
tongue, eyes, hands, and feet are but instruments to execute the
motions of the heart. The prophet cast salt into the spring to cure
the brackishness of the water, 2 Kings xxii. 21. And it is terminus
actionum ad intra, the principle of our internal actions : Eom. vi. 17,
'Ye have obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine which was
delivered you.'
Means.
1. Earnest prayer to God: Ps. li. 10, 'Create in me a clean heart,
0 God, and renew a right spirit within me.' God beginneth to us,
that we may imitate him : Deut. v. 29, ' 0 that there were such an
heart in them that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments
always;' Ps. Ixxxvi. 11, 'Unite my heart to fear thy name.' The
heart naturally is scattered to vain objects.
2. Treasuring up the counsels of the word : Ps. cxix. 11, ' Thy word
have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee ; ' Prov. vi.
20-22, ' My son, keep thy father's commandments, and forsake not the
law of thy mother ; bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie
them about thy neck : when thou goest it shall lead thee, when thou
404 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
sleepest it shall keep thee, and when thou awakest it shall talk with
thee.'
3. Serious caution, that bad principles be not rooted in us : Heb.
iii. 12, ' Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief,
in departing from the living God.'
4. Watching against vain pleasures, which render it brutish, sottish,
frothy, and stupid: Hosea iv. 11, 'Whoredom and wine and new
wine take away the heart ; ' the generosity, bravery, and sprightliness
of the heart.
5. If gotten, keep it : Prpv. iv. 23, ' Keep thy heart with all dili
gence.' Our first business is to get an heart worth the keeping ; a
vain heart is better thrown away than kept. When the heart is
renewed and changed, keep it pure and loyal to God. First get out
sin, then keep it out. We keep it by a constant watchfulness over the
senses : Job xxxi. 1, 'I made a covenant with my eyes ; why then
should I look upon a maid ? ' Over the thoughts : Prov. xv. 26, ' The
thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord/ Over the
affections and passions : Gal. v. 24, ' They that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.'
6. Increase it to a choice, an excellent spirit : 1 Cor. ii. 12, ' Now
we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of
God, that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God;'
2 Tim. i. 7, ' For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power,
of love, and of a sound mind.
SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35.
TJien Peter opened Ms mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God
is no respecter of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth
him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. — ACTS
x. 34, 35.
THESE words are Peter's reply to Cornelius, who sent for him to hear
the gospel from his mouth. For the entertaining of this message, both
Peter and Cornelius were aforehand prepared severally by God.
Peter by a vision, Cornelius by an oracle. So much ado was needful
to gather in the first-fruits of the Gentiles.
In the words take notice of two things —
1. Peter's acknowledgment of his former mistake, ver. 34.
2. His assertion of the positive truth which he learned by this pro
vidence, ver. 35.
First, In the acknowledgment of his former error you may observe
three things —
1. The preface or introduction : ' Then Peter opened his mouth, and
said.' Profane spirits cavil at this expression as needless ; for how
could he speak, say they, without opening his mouth ? But they mind
not that it is an Hebraism, frequently used in scripture concerning
them that are about to speak anything weighty upon mature deliber
ation. As of our Lord Christ it is said, Mat. v. 2, 'He opened his
mouth and taught them, saying.' So Ps. Ixxviii. 2, ' I will open my
mouth in a parable ; ' Prov. viii. 2, ' I will speak of excellent things ;
the opening of my mouth shall be right things.' To open the mouth
is to speak considerately, prudently, confidently. Would to God that
those that scoff at these things would never open their mouths to worse
purpose.
2. The means of his conviction: 'Of a truth I perceive; ' 'ETrdtojOeias
Karaka/j,/3dvofiai,. The phrase is used of those that are apparently
convinced and persuaded to change their opinion. The Latins would
express it, A vero vinci, to be overcome by the truth itself. Peter
once thought that it was unlawful for a man that is a Jew to keep
company with or go to one that is of another nation, as he himself
expresseth it, ver. 28. But being prepared by his vision, and now con
vinced by the words of Cornelius, he perceived the contrary.
3. The error, that God was a respecter of persons, or had so confined
his respect to the Jewish nation that he would not reveal himself to
any of the gentiles who had not submitted to their rites. But now
406 SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35.
he saw that all respect of nations was taken away by the coming of
Christ
Before I go off from explaining this branch —
[1.] Let us see why this was spoken to Cornelius. Was not he a
proselyte to the true religion ?
I answer — Cornelius was a Eoman captain over the Italian band,
therefore probably himself of that nation. But though by race and
breeding a gentile, yet no idolater, but a worshipper of the God of
Israel, or the true God, the creator of heaven and earth ; for we are
told, Acts x. 2, that ' he was a devout man, one that feared God with
all his house, and gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God
always.' Now the o-efiofMevoi, those that were called devout men,
were proselytes. Yet he was not circumcised, nor had he taken upon
him the yoke of Moses' law, and so was not accounted a member of
the church of Israel. The Jews distinguished of proselytes, the pro
selytes of the covenant, and the proselytes of the gate. For the former,
the proselytes of the covenant were such as were circumcised, and
counted and conversed with as Jews born ; but the proselytes of the
gate bound themselves only to observe the precepts of Noah, as to
worship the true God, to abhor idols, to abstain from murder, forni
cation, robbery, and in all things to do as they would be done to.
With these the Jews might not converse, as being not incorporated into
the commonwealth of Israel, though they granted them a part in the
life to come. Of this sort was Cornelius.
[2.1 Let us observe something from this branch of the text.
(1.) That God's own people may err in some points of religion.
Peter before this had read in the prophecies of the old testament
much about the calling of the gentiles ; he had heard from the mouth
of Christ the command of discipling the nations, Mat. xxviii. ; yet he
did not comprehend the thing till he was prepared by a vision from
heaven, and now found Cornelius endowed with great graces given by
God. Thus often we hear the truth propounded, explained, proved,
yet we conceive it not. Surely this was a great error in Peter, so
difficult to come over to this truth after the ascension of Christ, that
still he should think God to be the God of the Jews only, and not
also of the gentiles. But good men do not see all things, even those
things which are before their eyes, especially when blinded with pre-
j udice, and prepossessed with contrary interests and opinions. Therefore
we had need all look about us lest we be ignorant of an obvious truth.
(2.) The godly, when convinced, ingeniously confess their errors;
as Peter doth here. Controversies would sooner be at an end if we
could but learn this modesty. But men fear the disgrace of a change
of mind or opinion and so are the more entangled. It is better to con
fess and give glory to God, and yield to a conquering truth, than for
credit's sake obstinately to persist in a received error; for it is no
disgrace to humble ourselves before God and men, and to submit to such
means as he hath appointed for our conviction.
Secondly, His positive assertion of the truth now learned : ' But in
every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted
with him.' Where —
1. The qualification, ' He that feareth God, and worketh righteousness.'
SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35. 407
You will say, Here is no mention of faith in Christ. I answer —
[1.] Cornelius had not as yet received the knowledge of him, and
Peter was now come to preach Christ to him, as he doth in the next
verse, where he speaketh of ' preaching peace by Jesus Christ ; he is
Lord of all.'
[2.] He speaketh not now of our first recovery and reconciliation
with God, but of the constant temper of our hearts and tenor of our
lives after we are recovered and reconciled to him. Among other
things learned from the Jews, Cornelius had heard of the Messiah, by
whom sins should be forgiven, and the lost world restored. And that
is one chief means to beget fear and reverence of God : Ps. cxxx. 4,
' There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.' But as
yet he knew not Christ to be this Messiah.
[3.] This qualification is most to his purpose, which is to show that
external prerogatives, abstracted from solid godliness, do not further
our acceptance with God, nor the want of them hurt or hinder us.
No ; where there is a good constitution of heart and an holy life a man
is accepted of God. As more expressly to the Christian notion, it is said,
Gal. v. 6, ' In Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor
uncircumcision, but faith which works by love.' But here it was enough
to say, ' He that feareth God and works righteousness.'
2. The privilege, ' Is accepted with him ; ' that is, accepted to grace
and glory.
[1.] To grace. For Cornelius was rewarded with higher revelations
from God ; who warned him to send for Peter, and prepared Peter
that he might not refuse the message. Thus God delighteth to heap
up grace upon grace : John vii. 17, ' If any man will do his will, he shall
know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my
self/ To obey God's will in what we know is the ready way to know
more and better.
[2.] And for glory, that cannot be left out ; as appears by the
conclusion which the believers make when they heard of these things ;
Acts xi. 18, ' Then hath God granted to the gentiles repentance unto
life ; ' that is, to know and receive Christ unto salvation.
Doct. That God, without respect of persons, accepteth such as fear
him and work righteousness.
1. What is respect of persons.
2. In what sense it is denied of God.
3. What is the meaning of this qualification.
4. What is meant by being accepted with God.
I. What is respect of persons ? The word person doth not signify
the substance of a man or his personal subsistence, but that outward
estate and condition whereby one differeth from another. Either in
the gifts of the body — one is strong, another weak ; one fair, another
deformed ; or of the mind — one is more ingenious, prudent, learned,
when another is not so ; or else estate, rank, and quality — one is rich,
another poor, one more powerful, whilst others are kept low and bare ;
or in respect of nation or country, Jew or gentile. Lastly, in respect
of externals in religion, one may stand upon the vantage-ground who
yet is not the taller man. In short, that which is conspicuous in man,
and maketh him more or less esteemed among men, that is called his
408 SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35.
person. Now, to respect or accept persons in judgment is to prefer
and favour one person above another for these outward advantages, not
regarding the merits of the cause which is under trial. Quando non
causes merita, sed personce, dignitas attenditur — Aug. Now God doth
judge a7rpocr«o7roX777rT&)9, without respect to persons ; that is, his judg
ment is not swayed by anything that is extrinsical and belongeth not
to the cause in hand, and will not approve or disapprove any man for his
person's sake or external prerogatives, if he be not otherwise worthy of
approbation or reproof. As, to instance in the foregoing distinctions —
1. The gifts of the body, strength and beauty. It is not the strong
and beautiful that are accepted with God, but the good and the holy.
He is strong in a spiritual sense, not that overcometh another man, but
tameth his own flesh : Prov. xvi. 32, ' He that is slow to anger is
better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that
taketh a city.' The true strength is seen also in vanquishing the temp
tations of the devil : 1 John ii. 14, ' Ye are strong, and the word of
God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.' So not
outward beauty, but grace, doth make us amiable in the sight of God.
Alas ! that is a fading thing ; in its prime it is but skin-deep. The
adorning of the hidden man of the heart is that which is of great price
in the sight of God, 1 Peter iii. 3, 4. This beauty is never shrivelled,
nor doth it wax old, and is in high esteem with God.
2. For the gifts of the mind ; learning, secular prudence, these
things may make us more serviceable in the world, but surely in them
selves they do not commend us to God. It is pity men should
prostitute their great abilities to so vile an use, as only to cater for the
body, or to turn and wind in the world, or else to put a varnish on the
devil's cause. As Satan chose the form of the serpent to deceive our
first parents, because he was the subtlest of all the beasts of the field,
Gen. iii. 1, so he delighteth to employ the sharpest subtlest wits; but
at last, with all their wit and learning, they are thrust down into hell,
unless they lay aside their worldly wisdom, and cleave to Christ, and
walk in his ways whatever it costs them : 1 Cor. iii. 18, 'If any among
you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he
may be wise.' In the eye of the world it seemeth foolish to stand on
terms of conscience, but that will be found the best wisdom at last.
3. Of estate, rank, and quality. Some are noble, some ignoble. But
the blood that runneth in the veins of the poor is of the same colour
with yours that are nobly descended. By nature you are equal ; for
* he has made all nations of one blood,' Acts xvii. 26. And this dis
tinction will not outlive time, but ceaseth at the grave's mouth.
Certainly it beareth no weight before God's tribunal: 1 Cor. i. 26,
' Not many mighty, not many noble are called.' So some are rich and
mighty, others are poor and in a low condition, but none are accepted
the more for their greatness, dignit}', or worldly pre-eminence : Job
xxxiv. 19, 'He accepteth not- the person of princes, and regardeth not
the rich more than the poor ; for they are all the work of his hands.'
Alas ! it is a vain plea with God to say, I am rich, I am noble, I am
a prince ; I hope he will not deal severely with me. The rich or poor,
prince or beggar, do all stand upon the same level before God. The
dignity, power, and wealth of princes doth not move him to spare
SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35. 409
them ; neither lordship, nor ladyship, nor principality, nor kingdom can
stead you if you be a transgressor. Your sensuality is as odious to
God as the drunkenness of the rascality. When we stand before the
Lord, we are stripped of all our personal qualities, and regarded only
according to our works : Kev. xx. 12, ' I saw small and great stand
before God/ So for bond and free. Though Christian religion abolish
not those civil distinctions which are between masters and servants,
governors and governed, yet it layeth no weight upon any of these as
to our acceptance with God. The bond may be Christ's freeman, 1 Cor.
vii. 22, and the free are but Christ's servants. Therefore the apostle
biddeth masters to carry themselves well to their servants, because God
is no respecter of persons, Eph. vi. 9, Col. iii. 25.
4. In respect of nation or country. Some lie nearer, others more
remote from the sun, but they are all alike near to the Sun of righteous
ness: Gal. iii. 28, 'Jew and Greek are all one in Christ Jesus/ or else
miserable without him. Especially since the coming of Christ in the
flesh; the door of grace is much more enlarged and the enclosure
broken down.
5. For externals in religion, for profession and outward privileges.
Cornelius was an holy and good man, but wanted circumcision, yet
was accepted of God when many a carnal Jew that had it was rejected
by him. This is attested by the apostle : Eom. ii. 9-11, ' Tribulation
and anguish upon every soul that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also
of the gentiles ; but glory, honour, peace, to every man that worketh
good, to the Jew first, and also to the gentile ; for there is no respect of
persons with God/ God is not partial to Jews above gentiles, nor to
carnal, literal Christians above pagans. If by outward profession there
be a people nearer to God than others, they have the privilege to be
first rewarded if they do good ; but then they must expect to have
punishment and destruction first if they do evil; for the greater their
privileges, the greater also their provocation and guilt will be. For
God's rewards and punishments are not conferred by an uncertain rule
of arbitrary favour and displeasure, neither do they depend on .outward
privileges of being or not being circumcised, but are exactly propor
tioned to men's qualifications and actions.
Well, then, baptism, or the external profession of the faith, is the
Trpoa-aTTov of the Christian ; as circumcision, or the profession of the law,
is the TrpoawTTov of the Jew. Now if either be without holiness of heart
and life, it is nothing to their acceptance with God, either for the
submission to the rituals of Moses, or the external observances of the
gospel ; if there be not that constitution of heart, or that course of life
which this profession calleth for ; for God looketh not to shows and
appearances, but the reality of men's godliness and obedience. It is
no plea to say, I am of the true religion.
6. I shall add, where men are under one common profession, but
differ in lesser things. As there were different parties at Corinth, but
one common Christ : 1 Cor. i. 2, ' All that call on the Lord Jesus
Christ, both theirs and ours;' with 12th and 13th verses. * Is Christ
divided ? ' It is the nature of man to confine all religion to their own
party, and enclose the common salvation. As here in England, our
divisions have tempted us to unchurch, unminister, unchristianise one
410 SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35.
another ; we make no scruple to cast one another out of God's favour ;
but God's approbation doth not go by our vote and suffrage. Lingua
petiliani non est ventilabrum Christi. It is well that every angry
Christian's tongue is not the fan wherewith Christ will, purge his flour.
God considereth men in his judgment, not of this or that party, but as
righteous or wicked.
II. In what sense is this denied of God ? for it seemeth God doth
respect persons, giving more grace to one than another, though both
be equal in themselves. I answer —
1. The text speaketh of what is done by God in his government.
Respect of persons is not faulty, except it be in judgment; for so
it is forbidden to man, that neither the poor nor the rich should be
favoured in the judgment of their cause: Lev. xix. 15, ' Thou shalt not
respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty ; but in
righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.' And so it is applied to
God : 1 Peter i. 17, ' Who without respect of persons judgeth every one
according to his works.' Therefore God may be considered two ways —
either as a righteous governor of the world, or as a free lord. And the
decision in short is this, that God, that is arbitrary in his gifts, is not
arbitrary in his judgments. Therefore we must not exclude the free
distribution of his graces ; for God, as a free lord, may give his benefits
as he seeth meet ; for that is not a matter of right and wrong, but of
-mere favour. Thus God of his free mercy called the gentiles, who were
further off from him than the Jews; and may give the gospel and the
grace of the gospel to one, and not to another, when both are equally
unworthy of it. As to his gifts, he may do with his own as it pleaseth
him, Mat. xx. 15. We can plead no right, either by merit or promise.
On the other side, if you consider God as a governor, who governeth
mankind by a law which hath punishments and rewards, punishments
threatened and rewards promised, he judgeth according to that law, and
as obliged by promise. Compare Rom. ix. 16, and 1 Cor. ix. 24. In
the one place, ' It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy.' But in the other, ' So run that ye
may obtain.' How shall we reconcile these places ? The first place
belongeth to God's dispensation as a free lord, the second as a right
eous governor. All acts of government are dispensed according to law
and rule, but his gifts according to his own pleasure. If you ask why
he doth not give effectual grace to all, and hinder sin in all ; he is not
a debtor, but a free lord ; though we are all children of wrath, though
God seeth no more in one than another, yet it pleases him to show more
.mercy to one than to another. He speaketh not here of the sovereign will
and good pleasure of God, who taketh into favour one that is of him
self as unworthy as another, but his love towards the work of grace,
in whomsoever it is found. He speaks of his consequent rewarding
grace, in dispensing of which he looketh not to outward prerogatives
or observances.
2. In his gifts of grace, he doth not respect persons or nations, or
outward prerogatives, but the council of his own will. He hath mercy
on whom he will have mercy, passing by others which are nobler,
richer, wiser. He is not moved by any by-respects to anything in the
creatures so to do : ' Even so, Father, for so it pleaseth thee,' Mat. xi. 27.
III. What is the meaning of this qualification, 'That feareth God
SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35. 411
and worketh righteousness,' and the respect which each hath to the
other ?
The answer must be given according to the several acceptations of
the words fear and righteousness, which may be taken strictly or
largely.
1. Strictly. So the fear of God implieth his worship : Deut. vi. 24,
4 The Lord commanded us to fear the Lord our God for our good
always ; ' or all that duty of man which is immediately given to God.
And righteousness is also taken for the whole duty of the second table,
as often in scripture. Now thus it maketh a good sense ; for all
religion consists in these two — the faithful discharging our duty to God
and man. There are two tables, and we are to take care of both, that
we do not give offence to God or men, by neglecting our duty to either :
Acts xxiv. 16, ' Herein do I exercise myself, to keep a conscience void
of offence both towards God and towards man.' So Kom. xii. 17,
' Providing things honest in the sight of all men ; ' neither offending
against the rules of justice or mercy, but abounding in the exercise of
both.
2. Both are taken largely ; fear for the principle of our obedience to
God, and righteousness for the fruits of it, whether they belong to the
first or second table. As 1 John iii. 7, ' He that doeth righteousness is
righteous.' So that here Peter observeth the right order ; he begin-
neth with fear as the root of all duty and worship, and then proceedeth
to the fruit, which is an uniform, constant, impartial obedience to the
whole law ; which method is also observed in other scriptures. As Ps.
cxii. 1, 'Blessed is the man that feareth God, and delighteth greatly
in his commandments ; ' and Deut. v. 29, ' Oh, that there were such
an heart in them to fear me and keep my precepts.' This sense I
choose and prefer, and therefore shall examine — (1.) Why fear is made
the principle ; (2.) Why working righteousness is required as the fruit.
[1.] Why fear is made the principle of obedience. Certainly not to
exclude faith in Christ ; for without him we can do nothing, John xv.
5 ; at least nothing acceptably : Heb. xi. 6, ' Without faith it is
impossible to please God.' And God is especially to be reverenced
and adored for his goodness in Christ : Hosea iii. 5, ' They shall fear
the Lord and his goodness in the latter day.' Let us a little then
consider — (1.) What is this fear of God; (2.) why is it required as
the principle of all our actions.
(1.) What is it ? Holy fear is of two kinds — the fear of reverence,
and the fear of caution. The fear of reverence respects God, and not
ourselves. Fear of reverence is grounded on the nature of God, his
majesty, holiness, goodness, and justice. The fear of caution upon the
weightiness of the work we have to do, and our own weakness. The
fear of reverence maketh us walk strictly ; the fear of caution, watch
fully.
(1st.) The fear of reverence is necessary, or an awful regard of God,
that we may not offend him, or displease him, or give him just cause
of being angry with us, who is of such glorious majesty: Jer. x. 7,
'Who would not fear thee, 0 thou King of nations?' Of such
unspotted holiness : Rev. xv. 4, ' Who would not fear thee, 0 Lord ?
for thou only art holy.'
412 SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35.
(2c?.) The fear of caution is necessary to make us watchful against
temptations. The work is weighty ; if we miscarry, we are undone
for ever/ Heb. iv. 1, ' Let us fear lest, a promise being left us, any
of you should come short of it.' We are weak and inconstant, 2 Cor.
x. 12. The devil is busy : 1 Peter v. 8, ' The devil like a roaring lion
walks about seeking whom he may devour.'
(2.) Why is this frame of heart pitched upon ?
For two reasons —
(1st.) That we may most carefully abstain from what displeaseth
God. Nothing breedeth tenderness of conscience so much as holy
fear : Gen. xxxix. 9, ' How shall I do this wickedness and sin against
God ? ' So Phil. ii. 12, ' As you have obeyed not as in my presence
only, but much more in my absence, so work out your salvation with
fear and trembling.' God is alike everywhere, and therefore he that
feareth God is alike everywhere. He needeth no other theatre than
his own conscience, no other spectator than God and his holy angels.
No secrecy can tempt such an one to sin : Lev. xix. 14, ' Thou shalt
not curse the deaf, nor lay a stumbling-block before the blind ; but thou
shalt fear the Lord thy God.' The blind see not, the deaf hear not ;
but God seeth, God heareth ; and that is enough to restrain a gracious
heart. No terror can tempt them to break the laws of God : Exod. i.
17, ' The midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt com
manded them.' No worldly dangers are so much feared as God's
displeasure. They look upon God offended with the greatest terror,
upon God reconciled with the greatest comfort and delight ; therefore
they strictly abstain from what may offend God, even in the least : Neh.
v. 15, ' So did not I, because I feared God.'
(2c£.) Because it produces a care and diligent endeavour to approve
ourselves to him, and to be accepted of him. Nothing engageth us to
diligence and cheerfulness in his service so much as an holy fear of
God : ' Work out your salvation with fear and trembling,' Phil. ii.
12. Let this be the governing principle, and you cannot be slight and
careless ; you will work, and work out : 2 Cor. vii. 1, ' Perfecting holi
ness in the fear of God.' A little grace and a little holiness will not
serve the turn. So Heb. xii. 28, ' Let us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.' God is not a
God to be put off with everything, or a little religiousness by the bye.
If we have a due sense of the excellency of God, it inspireth us with
care, zeal, and diligence in his service.
[2.] Working righteousness is made the fruit of this sense of God
upon our hearts. To work righteousness is to set our whole heart and
soul a- work to live conformably to the law of God, or to approve ourselves
to him by a constant uniform obedience. The sense is, he that under-
taketh the service of the true God, as Cornelius did ; and exerciseth
himself in works of mercy, justice, and devotion ; that hath fear, which
giveth uprightness of heart ; and worketh righteousness, which implieth
holiness of life ; this is the man accepted with God. Now this is re
quired over and above the former.
(1.) In respect of God, that we may honour him in the world ; for
our obedience maketh our reverence and esteem of him visible and
sensible. Principles are hidden, but actions discover them. Things
SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35. 413
that lie hid in their causes are not seen, but when the effect breaketh
out, .they do sensibly appear. All principles are discovered in their
actions; as atheism and want of the fear of God: Ps. xxxvi. 1, ' The
transgression of the wicked saith, There is no fear of God before their
eyes/ And so good principles are seen to God's honour and glory, be
it faith or fear. All graces are more sensible in their fruits than in
their internal elicit acts. Faith : 2 Thes. i. 11, 12, ' The work of faith
with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you.'
So fear is seen in the effects : Acts x. 2, ' Cornelius feared God, and
gave much alms, and prayed to God alway.' A fantastical airy
religion bringeth little honour to God.
(2.) It is for our own comfort. When we set ourselves diligently
and solicitously to obey God, and are careful not to displease him, it
leaveth an evidence in our consciences. Partly because actions are
more evident than habits : 1 John iii. 19, ' Hereby we know that we
are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.' And partly
because uniform actions are greater and surer evidence of our sincerity
than single actions : 2 Cor. i. 12, ' This is our rejoicing, the testimony
of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had
our conversation in the world.' Partly because there is a sensible
pleasure that accompanieth the holy and heavenly life, and delighteth
the person so employed : Prov. iii. 17, ' Her ways are ways of pleasant
ness.' Constant obedience breedeth a durable delight and pleasure.
All other pleasures are nothing worth to this continual feast. Partly
because God is more ready to witness to our sincerity. Comforts are
the rewards of obedient children : Ps. xi. 6, ' The righteous God loveth
righteousness ; his countenance doth behold the upright.' God is just
and upright himself, and he hath a special eye of grace and favour
over them. There is a likeness between them and God ; he delighteth
himself in the reflection of his own image imprinted on them.
IV. The meaning of the privilege, ' Is accepted with him.' The
person is pleasing to him, so far as to maintain, increase, and perfect
the grace begun in them ; for the first grace is supposed.
1. He that feareth God, and goeth on in a constant, steady course of
righteousness, is sure of God's favour and protection : Phil. i. 6, ' Being
confident of this very thing, that he that hath begun a good work in
you will perform it to the day of Christ ; ' that is, will maintain what
he hath begun ; you may be confident of his fatherly love and pro
tection.
2. He will increase it ; for God delighteth to crown his own gifts.
See Prov. iv. 18, ' The path of the just is as the shining light that shines
more and more to the perfect day ; ' Prov. x. 29, ' The way of the Lord
is strength to the upright.'
3. He will perfect it, and reward you with an everlasting glory.
See Ps. xv. 2, ' He that works righteousness ; ' Ps. cvi. 3, ' Blessed are
they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all
times/
Use 1. Of information.
1. It informeth us —
[1.] How much they are mistaken who think sanctification hath no
influence upon our comfort and peace. Some good people are over-
414 SEKMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35.
tender in this point ; they pretend they would fetch all their comfort
immediately from Christ. And is Christ the less author of it because
sanctification is the matter of it ? As if sanctification were not from
Christ as well as justification. He is both to us : 1 Cor. i. 30, ' He is
made unto us of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemp
tion/ But they think this is to fetch comfort from something more in
ourselves than justification is ; for the one is an adherent privilege, as
the other an internal qualification.
Ans. True ; but though it be in us, it is not of us. It floweth from
the same grace of God, and the same power and merit of the Lord
Jesus. And something there must be in us, or how shall we make
out our title and claim, or know that the grace of God belongeth to
us? If we look only to justification, and suspect all comfort that is
elsewhere derived, we are in danger of falling into the gross part of
the error of Poquinus and Quintinus, who in Calvin's time asserted it
to be the only mortification to extinguish the sense of sin in the heart.
But this is not to mortify sin, but to mortify repentance and holiness,
to crucify the new man rather than the old, not to quiet consci
ence, but outface it. Surely where there is sin there will be trouble.
Sanctification is one means of applying the grace of God, as well as
justification ; and we must look to both benefits, and the mutual
respect they have to one another.
But because this prejudice is drunk in by many not ill-meaning
people, let us a little dispossess them of this vain conceit.
(1.) As to Christ. It is certain that a sinner can have no hope of
acceptance with God but by Christ : 1 Tim. i. 15, ' Christ came to
save sinners ; ' and Mat. i. 21, ' He shall save his people from their
sins.'
(2.) It is as true that ' whosoever is in Christ, he is a new creature/
2 Cor. v. 17. So that the dispute will lie here ; to clear up our inte
rest in Christ, whether we are new creatures ; for till that be deter
mined, we can have no solid peace and comfort within ourselves.
(3.) None is a new creature but he who feareth God and worketh
righteousness ; for that is the description of a new creature, that all
old things are passed away, and all things are become new ; a new
heart, a new mind, and a new conversation ; for a new heart is only
sensibly discovered by newness of life, Kom. vi. 4. Well, then, our
proposition is fully reconcilable with the grace of Jesus Christ.
[2.] With respect to the new covenant, which, suspending our right
and title to privileges upon the conditions of faith and new obedience,
do plainly show what influence fearing God and working righteousness
have on our comfort and peace. Now in the new as in all covenants
there is ratio dati et accepti, something promised and something
required. That which is promised is acceptance unto pardon and life ;
that which is required is taking hold of this covenant, and choosing
the things that please God, Isa. Ivi. 4 ; that is, an unfeigned consent
to God's covenant, as it is modelled and stated, or such a sense of
God's transactions with men by Christ as rnaketh them willing of the
mercies offered and duties required in order to these mercies. This
sense of God's mercy is sometimes called faith, sometimes love, some
times fear. It is called faith, because we treat with an invisible God
SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35. 415
about an happiness that lieth in an unseen world. It is called love,
because such great and necessary benefits are offered to us as draw
our hearts to God again. It is called fear, because we are so culpable,
and God is so holy and glorious, and the concernment of the work is
so weighty, that we come to serve him with reverence and godly fear,
Heb. xii. 28. But then this sense makes us willing of the mercies
offered, because none but the serious part of mankind doth regard and
care for them. And it maketh us also willing of the duties required,
both for their own sakes, they tending to the glory of God and the
perfecting of man's nature, as also because of the annexed benefits.
But now every will doth not give you a title to the blessings of the
covenant, but a sincere will. There is a cold and ineffectual will,
which is in no prevailing degree ; a lazy wish, which will never change
our hearts ; and there is a fixed bent, which maketh it our work to
please and glorify God : Heb. xiii. 18, ' We trust we have a good con
science, in all things willing to live honestly.' This is that sincerity
which is our gospel duty.
[3.] With respect to the Spirit, who is our sanctifier and comforter.
First a sanctifier, and then a comforter, and therefore a comforter
because a sanctifier. Otherwise the Spirit would cause us to rejoice
we know not why, and the comforts of a Christian would be fantastical
and groundless ; at best we should rejoice in a mere possible salvation.
But lioliness is God's seal and impress upon us : Eph. i. 13, ' In whom
also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise.' When his sanctifying work is interrupted, so is his comfort
ing work disturbed also, Eph. iv. 31. David's bones were broken,
and he lost his joy, when he fell into great sins, Ps. li., and Ps. xxxii.
And it is true in others, who, when they have been lifted up to heaven
in comfort, have fallen almost as low as hell in sorrow, trouble, and
perplexity of spirit, when they grew remiss, negligent, and disobedient
to the motions of the Holy Ghost. If we intermit a course of holiness,
the frowns of God will soon turn our day into night ; and the poor
forsaken soul, that was feasted with the love of God, knows not whence
to fetch the least support. Such is the fruit of our careless and loose
walking.
[4.] Witty respect to conscience. He that casts off a godly life, and
giveth up himself to a carnal course, can never have comfort ; for guilt
will breed terror, and by frequent sinning you keep the wounds of con
science still bleeding. Till it. be better used, how can it speak peace
to us ? 1 John iii. 20-22, ' Beloved, if our own hearts condemn us,
God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things ; but if our
hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God ; and
whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his command
ments, and do what is pleasing in his sight.'
Mark, therefore, how much is ascribed to the testimony of conscience,
because of its nearness to us. It is our own hearts, a domestical
tribunal, which we carry about with us in our bosoms. It is more
worthy of credit than any human testimony whatsoever ; for what
shall we believe if we do not believe our own hearts, which are most
likely to deal impartially with us.
Partly in relation to God. It acts in God's name, as his deputy,
416 SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35.
according to his law; and what conscience speaketh, it is as if God
himself had spoken it. So that these workings of conscience are, as it
were, a beginning either of hell or heaven within us.
Mark, secondly, the testimony it goeth upon, ' Because we keep his
commandments, and do what is pleasing in his sight.' Just the same
with that in the text, to ' fear God and work righteousness.'
Mark, thirdly, the success and effect : ' We have confidence towards
him, and whatever we ask we receive of him ; ' that is, we have such
favour with God that we shall obtain whatever in reason and righteous
ness we can ask of him.
2. It informeth us of the true nature of that sanctification which
giveth us hopes of acceptance with God. If both principle and per
formance are right and justifiable, ' fearing God and working righteous
ness.' He that is truly sanctified must first be one that truly feareth
God ; that is, maketh God his witness, approver, and judge. His aim
is to please and glorify God, and his work is to serve God. Grace
must be acted in the whole life, and this not by starts and fits, but for
a constancy, Ps. cvi.
3. We can make no judgment upon ourselves by what is unusual
and extraordinary, but by the tenor and drift of our conversation.
Not by what happeneth rarely, but by our ordinary course : Acts x. 2,
' Cornelius gave much alms to the people, and prayed unto God alway.'
Daily converse manifesteth the temper of our hearts. A Christian is not
to be judged by single acts, but by his life. These two, then, we must
still look after — the principle and the performance. The principle
is fear ; that owneth God's authority ; our hearts and lives must be
ordered and directed according to his will, and moved and acted by
his rewards. And the performance must be regarded. Wherefore did
God change our hearts, and infuse grace into them, but that we might
have the use of it ? but that we might act it and live by it ? Saving
grace is a talent, and the chiefest talent that we are intrusted with for
the master's use : Mat iii. 8, ' Bring forth fruits met for repentance ; '
and Acts xx. 21, ' Testifying to the Jews and Greeks repentance towards
God.' There must be practices becoming such a change of heart.
Use 2. To press you to fear God and work righteousness. I have
many arguments in the text.
1. From the privilege, 'to be accepted with God.' That should be
our great scope : 2 Cor. v. 9, ' We labour that, whether present or
absent, we may be accepted of him.'
[1.] With respect to God. See that all is right between you and
God. It is his law you have broken, his wrath you fear, his judgment
you must undergo, his presence you come into, his favour which is
your life and happiness. So that it is a great privilege to be accepted
of God. Then for your comfort : 2 Cor. i 12, ' This is our rejoicing,
the testimony of our conscience.' Carnal joys do but tickle the senses,
this doth affect the heart ; yea, the conscience, which is the quickest,
tenderest, and most sensible part of the heart. Many things please
our affections which yet cannot appease our consciences ; that f rowneth
upon and soureth our other delights, if it be not pacified. Till God
accepteth our persons this still occurreth, God may condemn thee to
eternal torments for all this.
SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35. 417
[2.] With respect to men. He that is. accepted with God needeth
not pare for any man's hatred ; he may be confident of God's favour
and the privilege of his servants : Job xvi. 20, ' My friends scorn me,
but mine eye poureth out tears to God.' Besides, you have a testi
mony in their consciences, not by being zealous for the interests of a
faction, but careful of God's laws : Horn. xiv. 17, 18, ' He that in these
things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men.'
2. From the condition, what is required of you.
[1.] Fear. To fear God is not contrary to your comfort or blessed
ness ; to be always in God's company, living as under his eye, is a
branch of blessedness : Prov. xxviii. 14, ' Happy is the man that
feareth always.'
[2.] Kighteousness. These are things which bespeak their own
respect. If the Lord had bidden us do some other things, we might
have stuck at it ; but righteousness is so amiable and lovely, that if
a man be well in his wits he will not stick at it, but would work
righteousness if it were not required of him. We should be so inured
to it that we cannot go out of its track. We should never consent to
break a law so fit for God to give and us to receive, so conducible to
the glorifying of God, governing ourselves, and commerce with
others.
3. The force of the enunciation. In general it is predicatio
udjuncti de subfecto. But what kind of adjunct is it? It is either
xigni de signato, or effectus de niedio requisite et necessario.
[1.] It is a sign or evidence whereby you may really know that you
are accepted with God. It is a comfortable thing to know how we
shall fare in the judgment hereafter, or whether we shall be accepted
to life or no. This cannot be known but by somewhat equivalent to
what is asserted in the text. That is a sure note which gives you
comfortable access to God for the present, and hopes of fruition of him
hereafter : 2 Kings xx. 3, ' Eemember, Lord, how I have walked before
thee in truth, and with a perfect heart.' But —
[2.] There is not only necessitas signi, but necessitous medii. A
sign is with respect to our own judgment of ourselves, but a means is
our qualification before God, and God considereth these things in his
judgment: Luke i. 6, ' They were righteous before God, and walked
in all the ways and ordinances of God blameless ; ' Kev. xxii. 14,
' Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right
to the tree of life.' A sign giveth us comfort, but a necessary means
appointed by God giveth us right. The new covenant is certainly the
.strongest ground of solid comfort to the fallen creature. We can have
no other hope of acceptance with God than that alloweth. Now in the
new covenant there are three things considerable, all which have a
great influence on our comfort and peace —
(1.) The first is the merit and satisfaction of the Lord Jesus. This
is necessary to allay the conscience of sin, which is the root of all our
trouble : Heb. ix. 14, ' How much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ? ' Heb. x. 22,
' Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed
VOL. XVIII. 2 D
418 SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35.
•with pure water ; ' Heb. xii. 24, ' And to Jesus, the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than
that of Abel.'
(2.) The matter of it, or the large privileges we enjoy by it ; for
these are the ' hope set before us,' Heb. vi. 18 ; Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' He
will give grace and glory,' &c. ; Ps. cxix. Ill, ' Thy testimonies have
I taken as an heritage for ever ; they are the rejoicing of my heart.'
(3.) The third is a sure claim. Now this is not perfection, but
sincerity : Gen. xvii. 1, ' Walk before me, and be thou perfect,' or up
right ; Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' No good thing will he withhold from them that
walk uprightly.' Here then are the three grounds of comfort — ever
lasting merit, blessed promises, sure title. This last is to walk before
God in all holy conversation and godliness ; this keepeth conscience
from being offended, Acts xxiv. 16. This accepted with God is next
to faith in Christ. So that attain this, and conscience is well settled,
and hath a full right to these privileges, and will be matter of °verlast-
ing comfort to you.
4. It is represented here as a thing evident in God's government :
' Now I perceive of a truth that God is no respecter of persons.' Now
God's way of government is either external or internal, and it is seen
in both ; as, for instance, there are two acts of judicature — reward and
punishment.
[1.] God's government is seen in rewarding ; God's external govern
ment is seen in dispensing outward blessings to his people as the fruit
of their obedience : Micah ii. 1, ' Do not my words do good to them
that walk uprightly ? ' His promises as declared speak good ; as ful
filled, do good ; that is, yield protection, countenance, and such a degree
of outward prosperity as supporteth and encourage th them in their ser
vice. David owned God's dealing with him in this sort : Ps. cxix. 56^
'This I had because I kept thy precepts.' Now, as to his internal
government, he giveth his people increase of grace, peace of conscience,
and joy in the Holy Ghost, Kom. xiv. 17. So God often rewardeth
grace with grace : Isa. Iviii. 13, 14, 'If thou call the sabbath a delight,
then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.' So Ps. xxxi. 14, ' Be of
good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart.' Proficiency in the
same grace is a reward of the several acts and exercise of it. So also
God delights to reward his children's obedience with internal comfort.
[2.] God's government is seen in punishing. Sometimes he useth the
way of external punishment by visible judgments exercised on his own
for the breach of his holy law : Kom. i. 18, ' The wrath of God is re
vealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men;*
Heb. ii. 2, ' Every transgression and disobedience receiveth a just recom
pense of reward.' Sometimes the way of internal punishment, by terrors
of conscience and punishing sin with sin. Both godly and wicked.
For the godly, as to external government : 1 Cor. xi. 32, ' When we
are judged we are chastened of the Lord.' Internal ; lesser, penal with-
drawings of the Spirit, which God's people find in themselves after
some heinous sins and neglects of grace, Ps. Ii. 10-12 ; but the judg
ments of the souls of the ungodly are most dreadful. As when the
sinner is terrified : 1 Cor. xv. 56, ' The sting of death is sin.' Stupe
fied : Ps. Ixxxi. 12, ' So I gave them up to then: own hearts' lusts ; '
SERMON UPON ACTS X. 34, 35. 419
so that the sinner is left dull, senseless, past feeling : Eph. iv. 7, 8,
' Having the understanding darkened/ By horror of conscience they
are made to feel God's displeasure at the courses they walk in. But
when that is long despised, and men sin on still, the other and more
terrible judgment cometh, the giving up a sinner to his own heart's
lusts ; and losing remorse and tenderness is the sorest judgment on
this side hell.
5. In all acts of judicature, either in punishing or rewarding, God
is no respecter of persons. His own people are not excepted when they
fall into wilful or scandalous sins : Amos iii. 2, ' You only have I
known of all the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you for
your iniquities ; ' Prov. xi. 31, 'The righteous shall be recompensed on
the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner.' God judgeth not
with partiality. In his external government he punishes sometimes
with — (1.) A blot on their name : 1 Kings xv. 5, ' David did that
which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside in any
thing that he commanded, save only in the matter of Uriah.' His
plotting Uriah's death is more laid to his charge than the other sins
which he committed. Many failings of his are left on record ; distrust,
dissimulation, rash vow to destroy Nabal, injustice in the matter of
Ziba and Mephibosheth, indulgence to Absalom, his carnal confidence
in numbering the people ; yet all these are passed over in silence as
infirmities ; only the matter of Uriah sticks close to him. (2.) With,
many troubles, for the vindication of his justice and providence, though,
they be the dearly beloved of his soul. What troubles in his house
ensued upon David's presumptuous sin ! his daughter ravished, Amnon
slain in his drunkenness, Absalom driveth him to shift for his life, his
subjects desert him, 2 Sam. xii. 10-12. So Eli's sons slain, Israel dis
comfited, the ark taken ; his daughter died in child-bearing ; the old
man broke his neck. Do not think your estate will bear you out ; sin
is odious to God by whomsoever committed.
6. We shall shortly appear before the tribunal of God, where every
man's qualification must be judged, whether he fear God and work
righteousness. How soon it may come about we cannot tell ; most will
be taken ere they think of it. Therefore the word, found is often used:
2 Cor. v. 3, 'We shall not be found naked ; ' 2 Peter iii. 14, ' That we
may be found of him in peace ; ' Phil. iv. 9. Well, then — (1.) Let us
make our peace with God, 2 Cor. v. 19. (2.) Fear God ; get a single
heart : Col. iii. 23, ' Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord,
and not unto men/ (3.) Work righteousness : 1 John iii 7, ' He that
doeth righteousness is righteous/ You must do wrong to none, good to
all. Charge yourselves to practise this great duty.
SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24.
And Tie said unto them, Talce heed what ye hear ; for with what
measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again ; and unto
you that hear shall more be given. — MAKK iv. 24.
WHAT one said of laws is true of sermons, that there are many good
laws made, but there needeth one good law to put them all in execu
tion ; so there are many good sermons, but there wanteth one good
one to reduce them all to practice. This scripture conduceth to this
very purpose : ' And he said unto them, Take heed what you hear,' &c.
The words are a special admonition touching the right way of hear
ing the word.
Wherein we have —
1. A duty.
2. The reason to enforce it, from the fruit and benefit ; intimated in
two proverbs, ' For with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured
to you again ; ' ' and unto you that hear shall more be given.
1. The duty, ' Take heed what you hear.' Attend diligently to the
matter of doctrine which I deliver unto you. In Luke viii. 18, it is
Trw?, ' Take heed how you hear ; ' and take heed rl, namely, what you
hear ; so it is here. It is a doctrine most true, as being of divine
revelation, most necessary, and of great importance to your happiness ;
you are utterly undone without it : most excellent, as being about the
greatest matter, the enjoyment of God, and the saving of your souls.
2. The reasons, expressed in a proverb, and a promise grounded
upon a proverb.
[1.] A proverb : ' With what measure you mete, it shall be mea
sured to you again.' This passage is often repeated in the gospel;
sometimes as a threatening : Mat. vii. 2, ' For with what judgment ye
judge, ye shall be judged ; and with what measure ye mete it shall be
measured to you again.' Sometimes in the way of a promise, and
differently applied ; to alms : Luke vi. 38, ' Give, and it shall be given
unto you ; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and run
ning over, shall men give into your bosom : for with the same measure
that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.' To ordinances ;
so here in the text ; as you deal with God so will he deal with you.
Look, what measure of diligence and conscionable care is in you to hear
the word, the like measure of spiritual fruit and profit shall you reap
by the blessing of God.
[2.] A promise grounded upon a proverb : * And unto you that hear
SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24. 421
shall more be given.' Those that make use of what is said to them,
that .mark diligently, and practise accordingly, the more knowledge and
grace is increased. This is built on a proverb, liabenti ddbitur ; For
he that hath, to him shall be given. To have doth not only signify the
possession of a- thing, but the use which is the end of possession ; so he
that hath is he that hath to purpose, that occupieth the gift and grace
received ; a man that useth and employeth that which he hath, and so
maketh it to appear to the world that he hath such a talent from God ;
for in scripture we are said to have that we make use of. ' To him
shall be given ; ' he shall increase his stock ; he shall be having, and
having, and having, till he come to a glorious estate in all spiritual
riches, knowledge, love, humility, zeal, temperance, and patience, and
all manner of grace. That the expression is proverbial is out of
question with the learned ; for it is an assertion verified in all ages and
places that the rich have many friends, and he that hath much shall
have more. Every one will be giving to them, and they have greater
advantages of improving themselves than others. Upon this occasion
were the words first used, which our Saviour is pleased to translate and
apply to his own purpose of growth in grace by a diligent use of the
means.
Doct. That a serious attention to the doctrine of the gospel is the
means appointed for the attaining of saving grace, and a plentiful
increase therein.
In stating this point let me observe to you —
1. That in the communication of grace as well as nature, God ob-
serveth the order of means ; because he dealeth with us as reasonable
creatures ; and this becometh the wisdom of his government ; and so
he meeteth with us in our way, and we meet with him in his way. So
Christ is the principal means, and called, therefore, ' The way to the
Father,' John xiv. 8. Other subordinate means are instituted by him.
2. That among the subordinate means, the principal is the word ;
called therefore ' The power of God unto salvation,' Kom. i. 16. All
the parts of it are fitted to their sanctifying use. His doctrine to teach
and fill us with due conceptions and apprehensions of God ; threat-
enings to drive, promises to draw, examples to move ; and all these
formed into a covenant strongly to engage us to God.
3. This word, that it may profit us, must be diligently attended
unto ; for this is Christ's admonition in the text, ' Take heed what you
hear/ 'The gospel deserveth it ; our profiting requireth it.
[1.] The gospel deserveth it ; partly for the sublimity and excellency
of the mysteries therein contained, which are enough to ravish the
thoughts of angels, 1 Peter i. 12 ; therefore we cannot conceive of them
without much consideration. Great and excellent things do even force
their way into our minds. Now all other things are but toys and trifles
to this. What is a greater speculation than God made accessible to us
in Christ, as he was manifested in the flesh ? than God reconciled by
the propitiatory sacrifice of his death ? What is all the glory of the
world to everlasting communion with God ? These things are a feast
to the minds of all wise and rational men. And partly because of
their profit ; they are things that nearly concern us. Needless specu
lations we may well spare, or other men's matters ; but surely we should
422 SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24.
mind our own things. What doth more nearly concern us than to
have God for our God, and Christ for our saviour and redeemer,
and the Spirit for our sanctifier and comforter ? ' This is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent,' John xvii. 3. And partly their necessity. We are
undone for ever if ignorant of these things : Acts iv. 12, ' Neither is
there salvation in any other ; for there is none other name under heaven
given among men whereby we can be saved ; ' and condemned by the
gospel if we make light of them : John iii. 19, ' This is the condem
nation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds are evil.' Not to think that worthy of
a serious thought which was brought about with so much ado : Mat.
xxii. 5, ' And they made light of it.' This is not only vile ingratitude,
but obstinate contempt of grace, which will cost us dear.
[2.] Our profiting by the gospel requireth it ; for otherwise —
(1.) How can we have a sufficient understanding of those mysteries
if we content ourselves with a few cursory and careless thoughts ? 2
Tim. ii. 7, ' Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding
in all things.' Lay this to thy heart, and God give thee a right use
of it, or a judgment to do all things which belong to thee.
(2.) That we may feel the force and power of it : Acts xvi. 14, ' And
a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of
Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord
opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul.'
Without attendancy the truth is lost, and doth us no good. There
must be attention and intention before there can be choice or pursuit ;
for the gospel doth not work like a charm ; as if we could find the
efficacy of it whether sleeping or waking.
(3.) To move the soul to obedience ; for, ' Take heed what you hear,'
is as much as, See you practise what you have heard ; that you bring
forth the fruit accordingly : ' He that heareth my sayings, and doeth
them, I will liken him to a wise builder,' Mat. vii. 24. Hearing
tendeth to practice, knowledge to practice, faith to practice, affection to
practice ; without which our hearing is but a bodily task, our know
ledge but an empty speculation, faith a dead opinion, affection but a
vanishing impression. These things do not attain their consummate
and proper effect.
(4.) This diligent attention consisteth in three things — sound belief,
serious consideration, and close application. Sound belief: 1 Thes.
ii. 13, 'For this cause we thank God without ceasing, because when ye
received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as
the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectu
ally worketh also in you that believe. ' Serious consideration : Deut.
xxxii. 46, ' And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words
which I testify among you this day, which you shall command your
children to observe to do, all the words of this law ; ' Luke ix. 44, ' Let
these sayings sink down into your ears.' Close application : Horn. viii.
31, ' What shall we then say to these things ? if God be for us, who
can be against us ? ' Job v. 27, ' Lo ! thus we have searched it, so it is ;
hear it, and know thou it for thy good.' And therefore, as things are
duly thought on, so they must be closely applied. These three acts of
SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24. 423
the soul have each of them a distinct and proper work. Sound belief
worketh on the clearness and certainty of the things asserted ; serious
consideration on the greatness and importance of them ; close applica
tion on their pertinency and suitableness to us. See all in one place :
1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a true saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.'
These are all necessary to make any truth operative. Sound belief,
for we are not affected with what we believe not : Heb. iv. 2, ' For
unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them ; but the word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it/ Therefore to awaken diligence the truth of things is pleaded :
2 Peter i. 5, 10, 16, ' Give all diligence to add to your faith virtue, and
to virtue knowledge. Give diligence to make your calling and election
sure, for we have not followed cunningly-devised fables, when we made
known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
were eye-witnesses of his majesty ; ' Heb. ii. 3, 4, ' For if the word
spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobed
ience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation ? which at the first began to be spoken by
the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him/ The
first rousing question when men heard any sermon about any truth or
doctrine of the gospel was, Is this true ? For consideration : Heb. iii.
1, ' Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, con
sider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus our
Lord/ Without consideration the weightiest things lie by as if they
were not. Sleepy reason is as none. The most important truths have
no force upon us till consideration awakeneth us. Then for applica
tion, what concerneth us not is passed over. Unless we hear things
with a care to apply them, we shall never make use of them : Eph. i.
13, 'In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of our salvation ; in whom also, after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise/ It is not enough to know
the gospel to be a doctrine of salvation to others, but we must look
upon it as a doctrine that bringeth salvation to our own doors, and
leaveth it upon our choice. A plaster doth not heal at a distance till
it be applied to the sore. Truths are too remote till we set the edge
and point of them to our own hearts. Well, then, by this way we
preach to ourselves day and night, by exciting our faith in God, and
Christ, and glory to come, and by serious consideration stirring up all
God's graces in ourselves, and reproving ourselves for all our sins, and
calling a backward heart to all the duties required of us. This is the
work of close application.
(5 ) They prosper best in grace that most faithfully and diligently
use the means. Here I shall prove two things —
(1st.) That we are to use the means ; for wherefore hath Christ
appointed them but that we should use them ? His church is not
like a statuary shop, where the image or statue doth nothing, but the
carver or artificer doth all; but it is compared to a school, where
Christ is the teacher to teach us our duty, and we are disciples to
learn it ; and to a kingdom, where Christ is the monarch and
sovereign, and we are subjects engaged by covenant to obey him ; and
424 SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24.
the manner of his government, it is not merely natural ruling us, as he
doth the other creatures, by a rod of iron, or in a way of absolute
power, as they cannot do otherwise, but moral, by laws, promises,
threatenings, working faith by preaching ; and love, hope, and obed
ience are the ends of faith. Certainly he governeth man as man ; not
by physical motions only, but by moral motives, to which we must
attend, consider, and improve : Hosea xi. 4, ' I drew them with the
cords of a man, with bands of love.' Christ hath not to deal with
stones, or brick, or timber, but with men. God hath fitted the means
to do their work, and for these ends we must use them. If he did
ordinarily work without them, he would never have appointed
them to this end. He could have done it with one powerful fiat, one
creating word or beck of his will ; but he hath set another train and
order of causes, and therefore he will work by them, because he work-
eth on all things according to their nature, and this is suitable to the
nature of man. We never knew of any man that came to knowledge,
faith, or love without means ; therefore it is presumption for us to
expect it. And the greatest neglecters and despisers of means are
everywhere the most graceless and the worst of men ; therefore it
concerneth us to use them with the greater diligence and care. We
may learn from our adversary the devil : he showeth his malice to
souls in opposing the means, either by depriving men of them :
2 Thes. ii. 18, ' Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I
Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us ; ' or keeping them from
them by negligence, or filling them with prejudice : John viii. 41 ;
'Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will
do : he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the
truth, because there is no truth in him ; ' 2 Cor. iv. 4, ' In whom the
god of this world hath blinded the eyes of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of
God, should shine upon them.' Or from the faithful using of them :
Mat. xiii. 19, 'When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and
understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away
that which was sown in his heart.' He watcheth them in all their
postures. As soon as men begin to be serious, and to take heed what
they hear, he disturbeth the work. Well, then, the means have an
aptitude and subservient efficacy, which we ought to regard.
(2c?.) They prosper best that do most faithfully and diligently use
the means. I shall prove that by the double reason of the text.
First, ' With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you
again.' In the allegation of this proverbial speech I shall observe two
things —
1. That there is a law of commerce between God and his creatures,
or else how shall we know what to expect ? And the ordinary rule of
his dispensations is, that as we abound to him in the careful use of
means, so he will abound to us in the influences of his grace ; because
then we are in God's way, or stand in grace's road. Surely the wisdom
and goodness of God is such that he will not set men about unprofit
able work ; and therefore, when we are serious and diligent in the use
of means, we may be confident we shall not lose our labour.
2. That God delighteth to reward grace with grace, and to crown
SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24. 425
his own gifts ; therefore, when by his preventing grace he hath put us
upon the earnest use of means, he delighteth to give out more grace ;
when we hearken to him, and respectively comport with his Spirit in
his preventing and lower motions, he doth advance his presence and
operations in men to a higher and nobler rate.
Secondly, The other maxim is, Habenti ddbitur, ' To him that hath
shall be given/ Upon which our Lord groundeth this encouragement,
' To you that hear .shall more be given.' This I shall therefore open
to you.
1. That diligence is the means, and God's blessing is the prime
cause, of all increase ; and therefore both must be regarded, or else we
profit nothing. We cannot expect God's blessing while we sit idle ;
and it is a wrong to grace to trust merely to our endeavours without
looking up to God. It is said, Prov. x. 4, ' He becometh poor that
dealeth with a slack hand, but the diligent hand maketh rich ; ' that is,
the means to become rich ; for it is said again, ver. 22, ' The blessing
of the Lord maketh rich.' God hath ordered it so, in the course of his
providence, that diligence shall be always fruitful and profitable, both
in a way of nature and grace ; that the joy of the harvest should
recompense the pains and the patience of the diligent husbandman,
and that the field of the sluggard should be overgrown with thorns.
Iron by handling and wearing waxeth brighter, but by being let alone
contracteth rust, by which it is eaten out. Take away use and exercise,
and wisdom turneth into folly, and learning into ignorance, health into
sickness, riches into poverty. Strength of body and mind are both
gotten by use. He that useth his talent with fidelity and sedulity,
shall increase it, but such as are idle and negligent still grow worse and
worse. So God doth plentifully recompense the diligence and faithful
ness of his servants. He that maketh use of any degree of grace or
knowledge shall have mor,e given him. By exercising what he
hath he still increaseth his stock ; whereas, on the contrary, remiss
acts weaken habits, as well as contrary acts. This is a common truth,
evident by daily experience. But then God's blessing must not
be excluded. He would have us labour rather to keep us doing,
than that he needeth our help. He that made the world with
out us can preserve it without us ; as he that planted the garden of
Eden could have preserved it without man's dressing ; yet we read, when
he had furnished the garden of Eden with all manner of delights, ' God
took the man, and put him to dress it ; ' Gen. ii. 15 ; that is, to use
husbandry about it, that by sowing, setting, pruning, and watering, he
might preserve those plants wherewith God had furnished that
pleasant garden, and so bestow his pains upon that whereof he was to
receive the benefit, and that by busying himself about the creatures he
might the better observe God's various works in and by them. And
indeed nothing was such a means to convince him of his dependence
upon God as this labour of dressing and keeping the garden to which
God appointed him ; for he could produce no new plant, but only
dress and cherish those which God had planted there already ; yea,
all his keeping and planting was nothing without dews, and showers,
and sunshine from heaven, and the continual interposing of God's-
providence. And still in every calling, he that is sedulous in it seeth
426 SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24.
a need of God's concurrence more than those that are idle ; for they
that have done their utmost, by experience find that the success of their
endeavours dependeth on his power and goodness, or the effect suc-
ceedeth not. I am sure it holdeth good in the work of grace, where
man hath much to do about his own heart ; and none are so practically
convinced of this necessity of divine assistance as they that do their
utmost ; for they see plainly that all will not do if God withhold his
blessing ; and their often disappointments, when they lean upon their
own strength, teacheth them this lesson, that all is of God.
2. If this increase be understood of the same talent, and not of
another kind, all is easy. I confess it always holdeth not that he that
useth his talent in one kind shall thrive in another ; for what a man
soweth, that shall he reap ; therefore the principal meaning is, that what
he soweth is still increased. It is not intended that by employing his
talent in riches he should increase in learning ; that by improving his
learning he shall grow in strength and beauty of body. No ; it holdeth
good eodem genere, in the same kind. Use common helps well, and
you shall increase as far as common helps will carry you. The exercise
of moral virtue will make you increase in moral virtue. Use that
measure of saving grace which you have well, and you shall have a
greater measure given you by God.
Set a-work thy knowledge, faith, zeal, and love, and all these graces
shall be increased in thee ; as wells are the sweeter for draining :
* Wait on the Lord, and strengthen thy heart, and be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thy heart,' Ps. xxvii. 14; Isa. Iviii. 13, 14,
' If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure
on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord,
honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor
finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt
thou delight thyself in the Lord ; I will cause thee to ride upon the
high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy
father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.' God, that punisheth
sin with sin, doth reward grace with grace. They that abuse the
light of nature are given up to a reprobate sense, but they that
improve the grace received, they are more strong. The habit is
increased by acts, and they that are more in faith and love are more
rich in knowledge.
3. If we faithfully and diligently use the means and common helps,
it is very likely God will give special grace. Certain it is that we have
means and duty appointed to us for the seeking of grace which may
convert us, and these means we may and must use to this end. God
is very angiy with those that do not improve common gifts and graces,
such as the use of reason, good education, the example of others, the
powerful preaching of the gospel, and common illumination, and the
'knowledge of the truth gained thereby ; if they despise all these, and
abandon themselves to their own brutish passions and affections, as we
see many by resisting common preparing grace do so harden their hearts
and increase their incapacity, that the same degree of grace will not
change them that will change others not so self-hardened : Jer. xiii. 23,
' Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may
ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.' And those that are
unwilling to use the means that they are able, that will not hear, or
SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24. 427
consider what they hear, that it may affect them, they provoke God,
not only to suspend the influence of his Spirit, but to take away the
means : Prov. i. 23, 24, ' Turn you at my reproof : behold, I will pour
out my Spirit unto you, and I will make known my words unto
you. Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out
my hand, and no man regarded/ &c. Much more when they run
the contrary way, and turn their thoughts and affections more eagerly
after vanity, and oppose God's help and grace, because it is against
their lusts : Ezek. xxiv. 13, ' Because I have purged thee, and thou
wast not purged, thou shall not be purged from thy filthiness any
more.' Well, then, they that have common grace ought and are
bound to use it for the obtaining of more grace. It is charged as a
great crime on them that have eyes and see not, ears and hear not ; that
will not frame their doings to turn unto the Lord, so much as put them
selves into a posture. They are threatened that it shall be more tolerable
for Sodom and Gomorrah than those that have abundance of means and
use them not; that they that were lifted up to heaven in ordinances shall
be cast down to hell for the neglect of them, Mat. xi. 23 ; that the
Ninevites 'shall rise up in judgment against them, and condemn them,
because they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and behold a greater
than Jonas is here,' Mat. xii. 41. They that have received so much
grace from God, and yet do not understand, nor seek after him, their
condemnation is aggravated, their destruction is of themselves ; they
shut themselves out of the kingdom of God, reject the counsel of God
against themselves, and judge themselves unworthy of eternal life.
The scripture everywhere speaketh at this rate concerning the folly
and negligence of men.
But if it be asked, If they improve this common grace, shall they
acquire special grace ?
Ans. God is abundant in mercy, goodness, and truth, and doth not
use to appoint means in vain. Certainly they do not merit it at God's
hands, nor is he expressly bound to give it to them. No ; ' It is not in
him that willeth, nor in him that runneth/ Kom. ix. 16. The first
grace is given by God as a free Lord ; not by any certain law, but by
his own pleasure. Well, but will he give it ? The question is curious,
and needeth no answer. He that is deadly sick doth not refuse his
physic till he be made certain that it will recover him, but useth it as
the only proper remedy in the case, and commits the event to God.
He that is to plough, and commit his precious seed to the ground, doth
not stand to have assurance that the next year will prove fruitful and
the season kindly, but ventureth because usually God's blessing goeth
along with man's industry. So in the business of salvation, we should
not trouble ourselves about the event, but do our duty, and leave the
event to God, waiting for his power and grace in the careful use of the
means which he hath instituted to that end. Certainly none perish
but they perish through their own folly and negligence, not for any
defect in God's help. When we have done all that we can, he is not
our debtor, but yet he is our gracious benefactor ; and if we would
labour to suppress our cavils and curiosity, we shall find God better to
us than we can imagine.
4. This increase is given by degrees ; we have not all at first, nor all at
once ; for Christ speaketh to them ' to whom it was given to know the
428 SERMON UPON MARK IV. 24.
mysteries of the kingdom of God,' Mark iv. 11 ; 'to them that had
ears to hear,' ver. 23. Now to them he saith, ' More shall be given.'
As our capacities are enlarged, so is God's bounty to us : Ps. Ixxxi. 10,
' Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.' We are not straitened in God,
but in ourselves. The more we improve grace received, and the more
serious we grow, and have our desires and expectations enlarged, the
more God will give ; for by mercy he prepareth for more mercy. It
is serious diligence, and exercising ourselves to godliness maketh us see
the worth of grace, and the necessity of more grace to bear our burdens,
resist temptations, perform our duties ; and the more we are acquainted
with God, the more will we follow on to know the Lord. Moses' first
request was, 'Tell me thy name;' and then, 'Show me thy glory.'
Sensible want increaseth with enjoyment ; so doth God's supply, for
his goodness is inexhaustible ; where he hath given, he will give.
Use 1. Is information, to show us the reason why so many reap so
little fruit by the hearing of the word ; either they never had solid
comfort and benefit by it, or else languish and grow lazy in the pro
fession and practice of godliness. What is the reason ? They do not
take heed to what they hear, seriously regard the messages sent them
by God day after day ; and then, alas ! all the good seed that is sown
is like corn on the house-top, that never groweth to perfection.
Neither is the understanding informed nor the will engaged to practice.
Why are our hearts so little affected and inflamed with the love of God ?
why stand we in no more awe and fear of him ? have so small hope and
weak confidence in him ? We mind nothing that is said concerning
these duties in the course of the ministry. We sit under the gospel,
and pass over these things, and do not deeply consider them in our
hearts. Christians, we impose no hard law upon you; many pre
tend they cannot invent arguments for meditation ; but when brought
to your hands, will you think of them ? They have no time ; but if
you will spare none of your own time, will you employ God's time
well ? Let sabbath doctrines so far be considered by you as to sink
into your hearts. Surely in their season all things should have their
turn and place. When we are employed about the world, we are
never troubled with heavenly things ; why should the world intrude
upon God's portion ?
Use 2. Is direction. If you would profit by the word, take heed to
what you hear ; see what you do with it ; believe it soundly. Is it a
truth or a fable ? a crotchet of ministers or a genuine deduction from
the word of God. Consider it seriously : How shall I mortify this
sin or perform this duty ? Apply it closely : What sin have I done ?
how doth it concern me ? Practise it readily : James i. 25, ' But
whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein,
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be
blessed in his deed.'
Use 3. Is to put us upon self-reflection : Is our fruit proportionable
to our hearing ? The word is not only the seed of regeneration, but
the means of growth : 1 Peter i. 23, ' Being born again, not of corrup
tible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth for ever ; ' with 1 Peter ii. 2, ' As new-born babes desire the
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.' God does not
SERMON UPON MARK IV*. 24. 429
•consider what we are de facto , but what we ought to be ; what strength
we might have ; our account is according to our means : Luke xii. 48,
' Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required ;
and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the
more.' Less grace will serve to the salvation of some than others ;
Therefore take heed that, where more grace is bestowed, it be not
neglected by you.
SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11.
For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of
one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. —
HEB. ii. 11.
IN this epistle, to persuade the Hebrews to continue in their professed
subjection to Christ, the apostle setteth forth Christ in his person
and offices. In his person there are two natures — divine and human.
The apostle proveth both by one argument, that Christ ought to be
such a person as was superior to angels, and yet for a time to be also
inferior to them. He had already proved that Christ ought to be
superior to angels ; he is now showing the reasons why he must be
made a little lower than the angels in his incarnation and passion.
The necessity and reasons of his incarnation he beginneth to lay down
in this verse, ' For,' &c.
In the words, observe — (1.) A maxim or truth laid down ; (2.) A
consequence or inference thence deduced.
1. In the truth laid down two things are expressed — (1.) A differ
ence between Christ and his people ; (2.) A union between them.
[1.] The different parties here spoken of, ' He that sanctifieth and
they that are sanctified.' Christ is the agent ; he hath an active
power to free from sin such as are polluted with it. We are passive,
for by ' him that sanctifieth' is meant Christ. One prime benefit we
have from him is sanctification : 1 Cor. i. 30, c Who is made unto us
wisdom, arid righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.' And
by the sanctified are meant the people of God, who sometimes were
polluted and sinful.
[2.] They are said to be 'of one.' This notes the union that is
between them ; they are of one stock and lineage, or one common
parent of mankind, Adam. Of one blood : Acts xvii. 26, ' He hath
made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth.'
Thence Luke carrieth up the genealogy of Christ to Adam, Luke ii.
38 ; so that he is one of our kind and nature. There is indeed an
union of Christ with man — (1.) By his incarnation ; (2.) Upon actual
sanctification. In the first respect he is one with all mankind as they
are men ; in the second, he and the sanctified, which are the church,
are one in an especial manner. There is a natural bond between us
and Christ, and a spiritual bond. The natural bond gave him an
interest to redeem us ; the spiritual bond is the ground of our comfort
in that redemption : ' They are of one.'
SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11. 431
2. The inference, or effect thence resulting : ' For which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren.' Which words represent — (1.)
The condescension of Christ, ' He is not ashamed ; ' (2.) The nature
and value of the privilege, ' To call them brethren.'
[1.] The condescension of Christ, 'He is not ashamed/ We are
said to be ashamed in two cases — (1.) When we do anything that is
filth}7. As long as we have the heart of a man, we cannot do anything
that hath filthiness in it without shame. Or, (2.) When we do any
thing beneath that dignity and rank which we sustain in the world.
The former consideration is of no place here. The latter then must be
considered. Those that bear any rank and port in the world are
ashamed to be too familiar towards their inferiors ; but yet, such is the
love of Jesus Christ towards his people, that though he be infinitely
greater and more worthy than us, yet he is not ashamed to call us
brethren. It is said, Prov. xix. 7, ' All the brethren of the poor da
hate him.' If a man fall behindhand in the world, his friends look
askew upon him ; but Jesus Christ, though he be the Son of God, by
whom he made the world, the splendour of his Father's glory, and the
brightness of his person, the Kings of kings, and Lord of lords, and we
be poor, vile, and unworthy creatures, yet he disdaineth not to call us
brethren. If a great prince should call a poor tradesman brother, it
would be accounted singular courtesy ; and yet, what is the greatest
prince of the world to Christ ?
[2.] The nature and value of the privilege.
(1.) The nature of it. Christ calleth.us ' brethren/ Not children,,
servants, friends, but ' brethren ; ' a title of great dearness and in
timacy.
(2.) The value of it.
(1st.) It is not an idle, foolish compliment ; for there is cause and
reason for it, 81 rjv alrlav. There is a reason of the use of this title,
because all mankind, coming of one father and being made of one
blood, are brethren ; and Christ reckoneth himself among us, con-
sidereth the bond he hath to us, and assumeth all relations proper to
his nature ; and also because the sanctified are the children of God by
the grace of adoption.
(2d) It is not an empty title, but a great and . real privilege ; he
is affectioned to us as brethren. His call is doing ; for his call is not
a mere nominal, titular, or complimental word : Kom. ix. 25, ' I will
call them my people ; ' that is, openly and before all the world declare
they are my people. Called ' an apostle,' 1 Cor. xv. 9 ; ' Not worthy
to be called thy son,' Luke xv. 21.
Many points may be hence deduced.
1. That Jesus Christ ought to be of the same nature and stock, yet
he with those whom he redeemed or sanctified to God.
2. That Christ, having taken our nature upon him, counts it no
disgrace to acknowledge and accept us as brethren.
3. The kindred is only reckoned to the sanctified. Though all
mankind have the same nature and come of the same stock, ' he that
sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one ; ' therefore he is
' not ashamed to call them brethren/
4. This sanctification which is required of us must proceed origi
nally from Christ
432 SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11.
1. That Jesus Christ ought to be of the same nature and stock with
those whom he redeemed or sanctified to God, e'£ eto?, of one stock,
of one blood. What necessity was there ?
[1.] That by the law of propinquity of blood he might have right
to redeem us. Goel, the next of kin, had an obligation upon him to
redeem his brother's land if mortgaged: Lev. xxv. 25, 26, 'If thy
brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and
if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which
his brother sold. And if the man have none to redeem it, and him
self be able to redeem it/ &c. Or person if sold : ver. 47, 48, ' After
that he is sold he may be redeemed again : one of his brethren may
redeem him.' So Christ is called Goel : Job xix. 25, ' For I know
that my Redeemer liveth ; ' Isa. lix. 20, ' The Redeemer shall come
to Zion/ Christ is our kinsman ; not only true man, but the Son of
man. True man he might have been if God had created him out of
nothing, or he had brought his substance from heaven ; but he is the
Son of man, one descended from the loins of Adam, as we are ; and so
doth redeem us not only jure proprietatis, by virtue of his interest in
us as our creator ; but jure propinquitatis, by virtue of kindred, as
one of our stock and lineage, as the Son of Adam as well as the Son of
God ; for Jesus Christ, of all the kindred, was the only one that was
free and able to pay a ransom for us.
[2.] To give us a pledge of the tenderness of his love and com
passion towards us ; for he that is our kinsman, bone of our bone, and
flesh of our flesh, will not be strange to his own flesh ; especially since
he is one that is so, not by necessity of nature, but by voluntary choice
and assumption. We could not have such familiar and confident
recourse to an angel, or one who is of another and different nature
from ours, nor put our suits into his hands with such trust and
assurance. It is a motive to man : Isa. Iviii. 7, ' Thou shalt not hide
thyself from thine own flesh.' A beggar is so, though through pride
and disdain we will not think of it. Degenerate men may shut up
their bowels, hide themselves from their own flesh, but Christ hath our
nature in perfection. This made Laban, though otherwise a churlish
man, kind to Jacob : Gen. xxix. 14, ' Surely thou art my bone and my
flesh.'
[3.] Divine justice required it, that the same nature that sinned
should suffer for sin; and that as the offence was done in human
nature, so also the satisfaction should be given to God in the same
nature ; for to man the law was given. The apostle telleth us, Rom.
viii. 3, that ' God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
for sin condemned sin in the flesh/ Christ was not a sinner, but he
came in the likeness of a sinner, with a mortal body, in which God
condemned our sin ; that is, showed the great example of his wrath
against it, punishing our sin in the flesh of Christ, and so representing
his wrath and engaging by his love at the same time. It being
done in our nature, it is the better warning to us, and 'the fittest way
of satisfying God, and reckoned as if we had suffered in our own
persons.
[4.] That we might find a fountain of holiness in our nature. God
hath poured out upon his human nature such a measure of holiness
SERMON UPON HEBKEWS II. 11. 433
that he might be a common fountain to all the elect : John i. 16,
' Out pf his fulness have we all received, and that grace for grace.'
Christ, as God-man, is the fountain from whence we receive all grace.
His human nature was a pledge and pattern of what should be
bestowed upon us according to our measure ; for as the head is, so
shall the members be.
[5.] To answer the types of the law. The priests of the law, that
sanctified others, were of the same nature with the people whom they
sanctified, all of one stock and kindred. The first-fruits were of the
same nature with the things represented by them ; as, for instance,
the first-fruits of the barley did not sanctify the darnell, nor the cockle
weeds, or any other kind of grain. Well, then, as priest and people
were of one stock, firstlings and beasts of the same kind, first-fruits
of the same mass, so ' God will raise you up a prophet among your
brethren,' Deut. xviii. 15 ; Christ, that was a man, as we are men.
[6.] To make a way for nearness between God and us. Christ
condescended to be nigh to us, by taking the human nature into the
unity of his person, that we might be nigh unto God, that we might
draw near to him now in the evangelical state, and be everlastingly
nigh unto him in heavenly glory. The children of Israel are said to
be ' a people near unto him,' Ps. cxlviii. 14 ; the Lord is nigh unto
them that are of a broken heart and contrite spirit; Ps. cxlv. 18,
' The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him, that call upon him in
truth ; ' Eph. ii. 13, 'Ye were sometimes afar off, but now are made
nigh by the blood of Christ.' This is but a preparation for everlasting
nearness to God : 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord
in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.'
[7.] Christ taking our flesh, and being of our stock, is become the
head of the mystical body, and suited to it, and so fit to convey the
Spirit to us as an head.
Use 1. To consider Christ's love. He would not entrust our sal
vation with an angel, but come himself in person ; not only to treat
with us, as the apostle of our profession, but die for us: 1 Peter ii. 21,
'He himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree.' Oh, how
irksome is it to us to go back two or three degrees in pomp or honour !
2. It presseth us to be as willing to have Christ's name and nature
as he was willing to have our name and nature : 2 Peter 1. 4,
* Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises,
that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.' If he was
born of a woman, let us seek to be born of God ; let us endeavour that
' Christ may be formed in us/ Gal. iv. 19.
3. It stirreth us up to be serious and in good earnest in religion.
God is in good earnest, for he seiideth his Son ; and shall we slight
the great things he came about ?
4. What an ample foundation is here for faith against the improba
bility of the blessedness offered !
[1.] It facilitate th the belief of the great privileges offered in the
gospel. We may the better expect the exaltation of the creature when
we consider the abasement of the Son of God. If he were clothed
VOL. XVIII. 2 E
434 SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11.
with our flesh, we may the better expect to be apparelled with his
glory.
[2.] It is an answer to the plea of un worth! ness. He took our
natures, though the crime of our first parents had made it hateful to
God, arid the consequent miseries showed it was not to be valued.
He that was a judge would become a party, and appear for us, and
answer in our nature what might be required of us.
[3.] It supports against the terribleness of God's majesty. How-
can men dwell with God ? stubble with devouring burnings ? If our
nature be taken into a personal union with God, it rendereth it more
reconcilable to our thoughts. God incarnate, born of a virgin, carried
in the womb, rocked in a cradle, sucking of a breast, growing up by
degrees, going up and down'and doing good, then dying on the cross,
lying in the grave, it mightily abateth our fears.
[4.] Against the pollution of our natures, which is so engrained that
it cannot be easily wrought off. His own holy nature is a pledge of
the work of grace. He that separated our nature in his own person
from all the pollution of his ancestors, he can purify our persons and
heal our natures, how polluted soever. So many begets as there are
in the story of Christ's nativity (Mat. i.), so many miracles there are
of grace, in that he prevented the infection conveyed by such and such
a one.
[5.] Against the mindlessness which unbelief supposeth to be in
God of human affairs, especially of the calamities of his people. Now
Christ hath taken the communion of our natures and miseries as a
pledge and sign of his pity : Heb. ii. 17, ' He was made like his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.' He
would entender his heart by experience, and inure himself to all our
sorrows.
[6.] Against the doubt of strangeness, and that he will take no
notice of our request, being so remote from him. We may with the
more confidence go to him with whom we communicate in nature.
Tli ere is a natural bond between him and us; we are of the same
stock and substance.
[7.] Against the fear of arrogancy in the assuming of the privilege
of adoption. Surely he will bestow this privilege on a returning
sinner ; for if he be not ashamed to call us brethren, God will ' not be
ashamed to be called our God,' Heb. xi. 16.
Use 2. .Think of this for your comfort. We have an unity with
Christ in nature, that we may be encouraged to look after the gifts
which he dispenses, that we may be one with him in spirit. We may
the more cheerfully come to him, because he took our nature for this
end and purpose. Especially does this concern you that come to the
Lord's table. The meat that is set before you is the flesh of Christ ;
his human nature is the food of your souls. It is not enough that
Christ the Son of God was partaker of our flesh and blood, but we
must also be partakers of his flesh and blood ; i.e., there must be a
true union and communion with that flesh and that body and that
blood which Christ assumed into his person, and delivered up to death
for us all ; for Christ, as the Son of man in our flesh, is head of the
mystical body of which we are members. The human. nature is the-
SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11. 435
cistern in which the Spirit dwells without measure, and of whose
fulness we all receive grace for grace ; that is, the temple in which
the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily ; the tree of life, whose leaves
heal the nations. In this temple must we dwell ; into this tree must
we he grafted, that we may become one with him, and live by him.
So the apostle tells us, Eph. v. 30, ' For we are members of his body,
of his flesh and of his bones ; ' that is, not only of one nature with
him, which is common to them with all mankind, but as members of
one mystical body with him ; not as God, but as God-man. We all
draw our spiritual life and nourishment from those things which Chris:
has done in our flesh. For this end was the Lord's supper instituted,
that we might be partakers of the flesh and blood of Christ. Not only
of bread and wine, but flesh and blood itself. How so ? Not with
our mouth and teeth, but spiritually by faith, with an hungry con
science and spiritual desires. That which we do receive is not only
the benefits which flow from Christ, but the very body and blood of
Christ ; that is, Christ himself crucified. As none can be partakers of
the virtue of the bread and wine to his bodily sustenance unless he do
first receive the substance of those creatures, so neither can any be
partaker of the benefits arising from Christ to his spiritual relief except
he first have communion with Christ himself. We must have the Son
before we have life : 1 John v. 12, ' He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son hath not life.' And we must eat him if
we will live by him, John vi. 57. Well, then, this is our great business,
to be partakers of Christ. Now, in partaking of Christ, we begin at
his human nature, his flesh and blood, John vi. 53 ; his cross and his
death, his body and blood: 1 Cor. x. 16, 'The cup of blessing which
we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread
which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?'
Christ, as dying, becomes fit food for hungry sinners ; so only is he
suitable to their necessities. Certainly the hunger is not that of the
body for a meal, but that of the conscience for a saviour. In this sense
' the flesh profits nothing, but the spirit quickens,' John vi. 62. A
man is not better, nor a jot the holier, nor the further from the second
death, if he had filled his belly with it. It is a spiritual eating by
faith that brings quickening and life, an applying of Christ as a
saviour in our nature. Well, then, his flesh was given as the price of
life : John vi. 51, ' The bread which I will give is my flesh, which I
will give- for the life of the world.' This is the first receptacle of our
spiritual life ; and being laid hold on by faith, is the conduit to convey
life to us; but the author of all is his Spirit being and dwelling in us.
That same flesh and human nature of Christ which was offered up a
ransom to justice is also the bread of life for souls to feed upon, though
the quickening efficacy and virtue flow from the Godhead to which
his flesh is united.
Doct. 2. That Christ, having taken our nature upon him, is not
ashamed to accept and acknowledge us for brethren.
What cause of shame there might be in it we intimated before in
the explication, notwithstanding our meanness and unworthiness, and
his own glory and excellency. Divines observe, that he never giveth
his disciples the title of brethren but after his resurrection ; before,
436 SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11.
servants, little children, and friends, were their usual designations ;
but then expressly he calleth them brethren. Servants : Johnxiii. 13,
14, 'Ye call me Lord and master ; and ye say well, for so I am.'
And friends : John xv. 15, ' I have called you friends.' And elsewhere
children, Mark x. 24. But after his resurrection this style of brethren
is very frequent : Mat. xxviii. 10, ' Go to my brethren, and tell them
that I go into Galilee, and there they shall see me.' So John xx.
17, ' Go to my brethren, and tell them that I ascend to my Father and
their Father, my God and their God.' And at the last day he giveth
this title to all the elect, whom he setteth at his right hand : Mat.
xxvi. 40, ' Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my
brethren, you have done it unto me.' What is the reason of this ? I
answer — Though the ground was laid in the incarnation, when Christ
naturalised himself to us and became one of our line, yet he doth
expressly own it after his resurrection, and will own it at his coming
to judgment, to show that his glory and exaltation doth not diminish
his affections towards his people, but rather the expressions thereof are
enlarged. He still continueth our brother, and will do so as long as
our nature remaineth in the unity of his person, which it will do to all
eternity.
But here a doubt ariseth. May we, by virtue of this relation, call
the Son of God our brother ? He calleth us brethren, but may we call
him brother ? (1.) For the term ; (2.) The comfort thence result
ing.
1. For the term. Though Christ calleth Christians brethren, yet
we do not read in scripture that ever any Christian called Christ his
brother, but rather his Lord ; as we say in the creed, Jesus Christ our
Lord, or Saviour and Kedeemer. Modesty teacheth us to use such
terms as express our respect and reverent esteem of him. Surely the
sense of the greatness of Christ, and the conscience of our own vileness
and unworthiness, will prompt us to speak at a more humble rate ; for
though Christ vouchsafe this honour to us, that he is not ashamed to
call us brethren, yet it would seem to savour of arrogancy for us to
speak so of him. Inferiors do not use to give like titles of equality
to their superiors as superiors do to their inferiors. Men of dignity
and high place may condescend, out of love and humility, to put them
selves into the same rank with men of lower degree, as a general may
call his fellow-soldiers commilitones ; but it would seem arrogancy
and contempt for inferiors to speak so of those above them. Indeed,
when we pray, we say, ' Our Father.' We call God our Father be
cause of his command, who requireth such a profession of our child
like trust and confidence from us. And besides, father is not a name
of equality, as brother is. But to call Christ brother in our prayers
is without command and example; and therefore Christian humility
would dissuade us from using such a term.
2. But as to the comfort thence resulting, it is clear that we may
comfort ourselves with the humiliation and condescension of the Son
of God,who by taking our nature vouchsafed to become our brother.
Surely such a title was not given us as an empty honour or vain com
pliment, that should signify nothing ; and therefore it doth not exclude
the comfort of faith, though it warrants not the rude boldness of pre
sumptuous expressions.
SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11. 437
But what use may we make of it ?
[1.-] It comforts us against the sense of our own unworthiness.
Though our nature was removed so many degrees of distance from God,
and at that time polluted with sin, when Christ purified it and assumed
it into his own person, yet all this hindered him not from taking our
nature, and the title depending thereupon. Therefore the sense of our
unworthiness, when it is seriously laid to heart, should not hinder us from
looking after the benefits we need, and are in his power to bestow upon
us. This term should revive us. Whatever may serve to our comfort
and glory, Christ will think it no disgrace to do it for us. This may
be one reason why Christ biddeth them tell his brethren * I am risen,'
Mat. xxviii. 10. The poor disciples were greatly dejected and con
founded in themselves ; they had all forsaken him and fled from him ;
Peter had denied him and forsworn him ; what could they look for
from him but sharp and harsh exprobrations of their fear and cowardice?
But he comforts them with this relation, ' Go tell my brethren and Peter'
— (the fallen man is not forgotten, ' and Peter') — ' that I am risen,'
Mark xvi. 7.
[2.] It increaseth our hope of obtaining relief ; for this relation
implieth affection. As one brother is kindly affectioned to another, so
will Christ be, and much more to us. As Tertullian, from God's taking
the title of a father, tarn pater nemo ; so tarn /rater nemo. Surely it
somewhat allayed the fear and increased the confidence of Jacob's sons
when Joseph told them, Gen. xlv. 4, ' I am Joseph your brother ; ' when
they heard it was their brother did all in Egypt. So when we hear
our brother doeth all in heaven, he that put this honour upon us, that is
not ashamed to call us brethren ; the rather because he will more
show himself a brother to those that do the will of God than to his
natural kindred : Mat. xii. 50, ' They that do the will of my Father are
my brethren.' They shall indeed find Christ to be a brother to them.
[3.] It comforts against the scoffs and scorns of the world, 1 Cor.
iv. 13, We are counted as filth, only to be swept out and carried away
in dung-carts. But we have a Father in heaven, and an elder brother
at his right hand, who are ready to receive us; and therefore the
honour which Christ doth unto us should counterbalance the reproaches
of the world, that we be not dejected out of measure. If we be despised
in the world, yet we are dear and precious to him as brethren.
[4.] There is much depends on being indeed Christ's brethren ; for
if we be brethren of Christ, then are we sons of God : ' If sons, then
heirs, joint-heirs with Christ,' Rom. viii. 17. We shall have the comfort
of this at the last day, when Christ shall publicly own us before all
the world : ' Forasmuch as ye did it to one of these my brethren, ye
did it unto me.' Christ and we have common relations and common
privileges : John xx. 17, ' I ascend to my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God.' God had a Son of his own, why should he
think of adopting strangers ? Among men it is a remedy found out in
solatium orbitatis, when parents go childless. Yet this is God's gracious
dealing with us; he taketh us into the fellowship of his beloved Son ;
the same relation, the same privileges, only he hath the pre-eminence,
Eom. viii. 20, as first-born amongst many brethren.'
Use 2. Instruction. Let us not be ashamed of Christ, or anything
that is his. Not ashamed of his gospel and the truths thereof, how light
438 SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11.
soever esteemed in the world : Horn. i. 16, 'I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ.' These things are worthy in themselves, but when
men count them unworthy, we should not be ashamed. Not ashamed
of sufferings : 2 Tim. i. 8, ' Be not ashamed of the testimony of the
Lord, nor me his prisoner ; but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of
the gospel through the power of God.' Mallem mere cum Christo,
quam stare cum Ccesare — I had rather perish with Christ than stand
f;ist with Cassar. And Marsac, Cur non et me quoque torque donas, &c. —
Why dost thou not grace me with a chain too ? Nor ashamed of those
that suffer for the name of Christ : 2 Tim, i. 16, ' He was not ashamed
of iny chain ; ' Heb. xi. 26, ' Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt.' As any one cometh nearer to
Christ, 80 should he be dearer to us. This is true gratitude, not to be
ashamed of Christ and his service, nor servants ; otherwise Christ will
be ashamed of us : Mark viii. 38, ' Whosoever shall be ashamed of me
and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also
shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his
Father with the holy angels." Oh, to have Christ be ashamed of us, to
hide his face in that day ! how terrible will it be ! In the changes of
the world, men, if they did know it, would stick to that party that is
sure to be uppermost. Christ is sure to be uppermost ; if you shrink
from him when his cause or honour lieth in the dust, it will be matter
of eternal shame in the world to come.
Doct. 3. The kindred is only reckoned to the sanctified.
All men are in some sense of the same stock with Christ ; yet it is said,
' He that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are all of one.' The
rest of the world are left out, as not capable of the comfort of this rela
tion. (1.) Who are the sanctified ; (2.) Why this appropriation.
1. Who are the sanctified ? To sanctify signifieth two things — to
separate and to set apart for an holy use, and to cleanse and purify.
And when this is applied to persons, they are sanctified that are dedi
cated and set apart for God's use and service, and are purified and
cleansed from the pollution of sin. And so in all that are sanctified
there is a difference between them and others ; for they are set apart
for God while others live to themselves : Ps. iv. 3, ' The Lord hath set
apart him that is godly for himself.' Yea, there is a change, and so a
difference between them and themselves : 1 Cor. vi. 11, ' And such were
some of you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justi
fied, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.'
This closely followed would find out the parties here intended. But
yet we must know that in both these senses some are sanctified in appear
ance only, others really and indeed.
[1.] In appearance only ; and so all the members of the visible church,
that are in outward covenant with God, and bound to be holy, are
called saints, and said to be sanctified : Exod. xxxi. 13, ' I am the Lord
that doth sanctify you.' And thus apostates are said to trample the
blood of the covenant underfoot wherewith they were sanctified, Heb.
x. 29 ; that is, externally, in their separation from the world, and
dedication to God's service by outward calling and covenant. In faro
externo, before men, these are sanctified ; yea, in his external dispensa
tion God speaketh to such an one, and of him, and dealeth with him as
one of his own people.
SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11. 439
[2.] Eeally and indeed. So sanctification is threefold — (1.) Meri
torious ; (2.) Applicatory ; (3.) Practical.
(1.) Meritorious sanctification is Christ's meriting and purchasing
for his church the inward inhabitation of the Spirit, and that grace
whereby they may be sanctified. So it is said, Heb. x. 10, ' By which
will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all.' All those for whom Christ did offer himself are sancti
fied in due time by virtue of Christ's offering. So it is said, Heb. xiii.
12, 'Jesus, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, did
suffer without the gate.' This sanctification cannot be repeated or
increased, but was done once for all, and that by one above, even Jesus
Christ. There needeth no addition to his merit.
(2.) Applicatory sanctification is the inward renovation of the heart
of those whom Christ hath sanctified by the Spirit of regeneration,
whereby a man is translated from death to life, from the state of
nature to the state grace. This is spoken of Titus iii. 5, ' Not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost.' This is the daily sanctification, which, with respect to the
merit of Christ, is wrought by the Spirit and the ministry of the word
and sacraments.
(3.) Practical sanctification is that by which they for whom Christ
sanctified himself, and who are renewed by the Holy Ghost, and planted
into Christ by faith, do more and more sanctify and cleanse themselves
from sin in thought, word, and deed : 1 Peter i. 15, ' As he which
hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ; '
1 John iii. 3, ' Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth him
self, even as he is pure ; ' weakening the relics of sin, and getting
more readiness and preparation of heart for all the acts of the holy life.
In the former we are passive ; we contribute nothing to the first, little
to the second ; but in this we are operative.
Besides these two notions, to consecrate and purify, help us to under
stand the nature of true sanctification.
(1st.) As to sanctify signifieth to consecrate or dedicate to God, so it
signifieth both the fixed inclination, or the disposition of the soul
towards God as our highest lord and chief good, and accordingly a
resignation of our souls to God, to live in the love of his blessed majesty
and a thankful obedience to him. More distinctly — (1.) It implieth a
bent, a' tendency, or fixed inclination towards God, which is habitual
sanctification. (2.) A resignation, or giving up ourselves to God, by
which actual holiness is begun ; a constant using ourselves for him,
by which it is continued ; and the continual exercise of a fervent love,
by which it is increased in us more and more, till all be perfected in
glory ; and perfect love is maintained by a perfect vision of him.
(2d.) As it signifieth to purify and cleanse, so it signifies the purifying
of the soul from the love of the world. Omnis impuritas est ex mixtura
vilioris. A man is impure because, when he was made for God, he
doth prefer the base trifles of this world before his maker and ever
lasting glory ; and so he is not sanctified that doth despise and dis
obey his maker ; he despiseth him because he preferreth the most
contemptible vanity before him, and doth choose the transitory pleasure
440 SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11.
of sinning before the endless fruition of God. Now he is sanctified
when his worldly love is cured, and he is brought back again to the
love and obedience of God. Those that are healed of the over-love of
the world are sanctified, as the inclinations of the flesh to worldly
things are broken.
2. Why this appropriation ?
[1.] Because the relation is only reckoned to those that have benefit
by it. Now none but the sanctified have benefit by Christ's incarna
tion. As Christ told Peter, John xiii. 8, ' If I wash thee not, thou hast
no part with me.' Without this soul-washing men can prove no
interest in Christ. This is the great evidence, if no interest in him,
no communion with him, no share in the inheritance purchased by
him ; and so it doth them no good to hear of a God in their nature.
Alas! if the secure world did mind this, they would more seriously study
holiness, and not so easily presume on the grace of God in Christ.
[2.] Because there the relation holdeth of both sides. Christ is born
of a woman, and- they are born of God, John i. 13 ; and he is a kins
man doubly, ratione incarnationis suoe and regenerationis nostrce, as
Macarius. He taketh human nature, and we partake of the divine
nature, 2 Peter i. 4. They that have not this new birth, the kindred is
not reckoned to them. It is between sanctifier and sanctified. There
is a conformity between head and members of the mystical body ; an
unity of nature spiritually as well as outwardly. The sanctified are
of one, as well as the sanctifier ; they are of the Spirit.
[3.J The captain of salvation and the heirs brought to glory are an
holy society, whereof he is the head and they the members. He sancti-
fieth, and they are sanctified. A living head and rotten members will
not suit. As a prince instituteth a noble society (suppose of the Garter),
whereof he is head, "all the members that call one another brethren are
in their degree of answerable nobility with himself; so Christ hath
instituted a society where all shall be brethren, but he the head. He
gave himself for it : Eph. v. 27, ' Christ is the head of the church, and
saviour of the body.'
[4.] These suit with Christ's ends of coming into the world and assum
ing human nature. Two ends there were of his humiliation and mean
condition in the world —
(1.) One by way of merit, to procure the sanctifying Spirit, to restore
us to a state of holiness, and to purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works, Titus ii. 14, Eph. ii. 25, 26. The Spirit begets us to the
image of God, and it is by Christ that we are possessed of the Spirit,
and renewed according to his image, in righteousness and true holiness.
(2.) His mean condition, whereby he became our brother, and did
partake of flesh and blood, because his brethren did partake of the
same, is a testimony against the pride, carnality, and worldliness of
men, which is the true impurity of their souls. He was in the form
of a servant, and made himself of no reputation, Phil. ii. 7-9, to draw
off deluded men from over-loving the pleasures and riches and honours
of the world, and so to cure them of that perverse love wherein
impurity and unholiness doth consist, and to teach us a settled con
tempt of all these vanities in comparison of God and heaven, and that
inclination and affected ness we should have to him.
SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11. 441
[5.] These are qualified for the inheritance, suited to the everlast
ing; glory and happiness which belongeth to the brethren : Mat. v. 8,
' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' God is an holy
God, and heaven is the place where his holiness dwelleth. If God
will be now sanctified in all that draw nigh unto him, surely they must
be sanctified that dwell with him hereafter. Unless we be washed by
the blood of Christ, and sanctified by his Spirit of grace, how can we
dwell in his sight ? we must be consecrated before we can minister in
his heavenly temple. God will not divest himself of his holiness to
gratify impure and unholy creatures, and admit them to dwell in his
presence upon other terms.
Use 1. To press you to labour after holy hearts and holy lives.
The more you increase in holiness, the more you increase in the favour
of God : Prov. xi. 20, ' Such as are upright in the way are his delight.'
A man is made truly amiable by holiness the more God loveth him ;
and it is the greatest testimony of God's love to us to give a new heart
and a right spirit within us : Horn. v. 5, ' The love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us/
Use 2. It shows who they are that may take comfort in that Christ
calls them brethren, even the sanctified, such as have the Spirit of
Christ dwelling and working in them, and do purify themselves yet
more and more. They that have not this double union and communion
with Christ are not brethren, though they be men, as Christ was ; for
though Christ assumed their nature, yet they do not assume Christ's
nature. Though he was the Son of man, yet they are not the sons of
God. Therefore try — (1.) Are you sanctified ? Is there a principle of
grace set up in your hearts ? Another spirit than the spirit of the
world ? Is there a new spirit as God has promised ? Ezek. xxxvi. 26,
27. (2.) Does that work go on ? It is complete in parts at first, but
are you growing in degrees, as an infant doth ? Is there more love,
more zeal, faith, fear, reverence, watchfulness? Is your love more
fixed ? Are you more fixed, more cleansing yourselves ? 2 Cor. vii. 1 ;
more humbling yourselves for outbreakings of sin ? Is there more
fitness and suitableness to God's will ; more pressing towards the mark,
as it was with Paul ? Phil. iii. 14.
Doct. 4. That this sanctification which is required of us proceedeth
originally from Christ.
He is o wycd&v, he that sanctifieth, and therefore said to be made
unto us sanctification, 1 Cor. i. 30 ; that is, a fountain of holiness. Now
Christ sanctifieth us —
1. Partly by his merit. Flee to the blood of Christ as the meri
torious and procuring cause. When God's image was lost, there was
no way to recover it but by paying a price to provoked justice ; and no-
less price would serve the turn than the blood of Christ. Therefore it
is said, Eph. v. 26, ' He gave himself for the church, that he might
cleanse and sanctify it ; ' meritoriously. And this he hath done
sufficiently on the cross : Heb. x. 14, ' By one offering he hath perfected
for ever them that are sanctified ; ' that is, done enough for the perfect
reconciling of all that are sanctified.
2. By his Spirit : 1 Cor. vi. 11, ' But ye are sanctified, ye are cleansed,
in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God/ What-
442 SERMON UPON HEBREWS II. 11.
ever the Spirit of God doth, he doth as Christ's Spirit, as being pur
chased by him ; as dwelling first in him who is the head, and then in
the members ; and for his glory, and as we are his members, and belong
to him : Kom. viii. 9, ' If ye have not the Spirit of Christ, ye are none
of his.'
3. He blesseth his word and sacraments to this end and purpose: John
xvii. 19, ' For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanc
tified through the truth.' We hear of Christ by the Spirit, and of
the Spirit in the ordinances and duties of religion : Eph. v. 26, ' By the
washing of water through the word.' Two are here mentioned — the
word, and washing of water. The one containeth our charter, or grant
of Christ and all his benefits to every one that believes in him : John
Hi. 16, ' For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever
lasting life.' The other is the seal of it, to assure us, and be a pledge to
us, that Christ will be as good as his word : Bom. iv. 11, ' He received
the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith.'
[1.] The word is a powerful instrument : John xvii. 19, ' I sanctify
myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth ; ' John
xv. 3, ' Ye are clean through the word.' That warneth us of our duty,
showeth our danger, encourageth us by promises to run to Christ for
this benefit, holds forth his blood as the meritorious cause.
[2.] Sacraments assure us God will be as good as his word. The
doubting soul saith, How shall I know ? 2 Kings xx. 8, ' What shall be
the sign ? ' by these visible things God assures us of the truth of his
covenant.
Use 1. It showeth us how and where we should look for this benefit
of sanctification ; from Christ, by the Spirit, in the ordinances. Look
not to these singly, but all together. Holy things do not sanctify us,
but we pollute them when we look to them singly : Hag. ii. 13, 14,
' If one that is unclean touch any of these, shall it be unclean ? the
priests answered, It shall be unclean. So is this people ; that which
they offer is unclean.' Foul bodies, the more you nourish them, the
more you hurt them.
2. Go not to the Spirit alone, without having accepted Christ and
received him into your hearts. So upward. Christ sendeth to the
Spirit, the Spirit to ordinances. Christ undertaketh to be a sanctifier,
that you may have recourse to him.
SERMON UPON HEBREWS XI1L 5.
For he hath said, I ivill never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
HEB. xiii. 5.
IN the former part of the verse the apostle dissuadeth from covetous-
ness, and persuadeth to contentment. The motive to enforce the one
and the other is God's promise. Many of our distempers would have
no more place if we did of'tener study the promises. ' He saith,' that
is, God ; that He whose voice should only be heard in the church.
The Pythagoreans would use to say in their school, dtn-o? €<j>rj. He
hath said. It should much more be reason enough with Christians,
UVTOS jap -elp^Ke, ' For he said.'
But where doth the force of the inference lie ? Apply it to the first
part, ' Let your conversation be without covetousness ; for he hath
said.'
I answer — Covetousness is rooted in a diffidence and fear of want.
Now that fear is irrational, if we regard what he hath said. God will
maintain us as long as he hath work for us to do. He that is per-
euaded that God will not leave him will not be much troubled.
Apply it now to the second branch, ' Be content with such things
as ye have ; for he hath said, I will never leave thee.' And how is
that inferred ?
I answer — The comfort of our condition doth not depend on outward
provisions so much as in God's promises ; therefore, though you have
little, be content. If God denieth the creature, he will vouchsafe his
own presence ; and what need we care for the want of a candle when
we have the sun ?
Once more, the connection between the dissuasive and exhortation
and the promise is to be observed : ' Be not covetous ; be content ; for
he hath said, I will never leave thee ; ' and men would have less
trouble if they could learn to cast themselves upon God's allowance ;
if we could depend more, we should crave less. The promise well
applied would not only allay our fears but moderate our desires.
Lust is ravenous, and therefore suspicious. If we believe his word, we
shall have enough to glorify God, enough for that condition wherein
God will make use of us. Fixing upon carnal hopes doth but make
trouble for yourselves. Carnal affections prescribe God a task which
he will never perform : Ps. Ixxviii. 18, ' They ask meat for their lusts.'
Not meat for their necessities, but meat for their lusts. God never
444 SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 5.
undertook to maintain us at such a rate, to give us so much by the
year, such portions for our children. The sheep must be left to the
shepherd to choose their pastures, bare or better grown. Be content,
and then faith will be more easy. We may pray for a competency,
and are bound to submit to an extremity.
' He hath said/ Where hath he said it ? Everywhere in the
word, more especially to Joshua in particular : Josh. i. 5, ' As I was
with Moses, so I will be with thee ; I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee/ To all his people in general : Deut. xxxi. 6, 8, ' Be strong, and
of a good courage ; fear not, nor be afraid of them : for the Lord thy
God he it is that doth go with thee ; he will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee.' David bids Solomon be confident of it : 1 Chron. xxviii. 20,
' David said to Solomon his son, Be strong, and of good courage, and
do it ; fear not, nor be dismayed : for the Lord God, even my God,
will be with thee ; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.' So Jacob :
Gen. xxviii. 15, ' I will not leave thee till I have done all that I have
spoken to thee of.' It is pleaded by Solomon : 1 Kings viii. 57, ' The
Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers ; let him not
leave us nor forsake us/ You see it is a known truth, and to be
made use of upon all occasions of trial. It was spoken to Joshua
when he was to fight the Lord's battles ; to Israel when they had not
as yet a foot of land to possess ; to Jacob when to pass through many
services ; to Solomon when to go about a costly work. And God
having said it so often, delights to be challenged upon his word, and
to have this promise put in suit.
Before I come to show you the full purport and drift of this promise,
let me observe —
1. Though the promises were made upon a particular occasion, to
some of God's people, yet they are of a general use. Well, then,
promises made to one saint concern another also. Why ?
[1.] Because God is alike affected to all his children ; he beareth
them the same love. His saints now are as dear to him as ever ;
therefore, as he would not leave Joshua, or Jacob, or Solomon, so. he
will not leave others that trust in him : ' This honour have all his
saints,' Ps. cxlix. 9.
[2.] They have the same covenant. It is a common charter : Acts
ii. 39, ' For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call/
[3.] They have the same Kedeemer : 1 Cor. i. 2, ' Jesus Christ,
both theirs and ours/ Kich and poor gave the same ransom : Exod.
xxx. 15, 'Half a shekel/ One has not a more worthy Christ than
another : Rom. iii. 22, ' Even the righteousness of God, which is by
faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon -all them that believe, for there
is no difference/
[4.] The faith of the one is as acceptable to God as the other :
2 Peter i. 1, ' Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to them that have obtained like precious faith with us, through the
righteousness of God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ/ The same for
kind, though not for degree, tVort/ioz/ Triartv. A jewel held by a
child's hand is a jewel, as well as that held by a man's.
Well, then, the expressions of God's love to his people of old have
SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 5. 445
their use for the establishment of our comfort and hope : Horn. xv. 4,
' Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learn
ing, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have
hope ; ' Horn. iv. 23, ' It was not written for his sake alone, that it was
imputed to him, but for us also.' As judgments on the wicked are
for our admonition: 1 Cor. x. 6, 'These things were our examples;'
so promises are for our consolation. The word is not only a history,
but a book of precedents. As a painter hangeth forth his masterpieces
to draw custom, so here God's kindnesses to his people are advanta
geous to us ; only let us take heed that we have the same Spirit.
2. I observe, that it is a capacious promise, applicable to several
purposes. To Joshua, to embolden him against dangers; to Jacob,
to make- him patient under crosses; to Solomon, to quicken him
against coldness in God's service ; to Israel, to hearten them against
enemies ; to all believers, to support them • under family wants and
straits. One promise hath several uses ; it is good for wants, good for
wars. This one promise well observed will teach us to live well and
die well, for still God is with us ; to live without carking, for then God
is with us ; and to die without discomfort, for then we are with God.
If one promise yield so much comfort, what will all ? it is KOIVOV
iarpeiov, a common, remedy for every disease. As the scripture saith in
another case, ' Mark well her bulwarks, tell her towers.' There is no
case to which God hath not spoken, no blessing but it is adopted into
the covenant.
3. I observe, that it is a promise emphatically delivered.
[1.] For the matter, ' I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee ; ' that
is, I will be so far from forsaking or casting thee off, that I will not so
much as leave thee for a time. It is such another as that, Ps. cxxi. 4,
' Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.'
There is no time that his people are left to shift for themselves, but
they are under the care of his providence continually.
[2.] For the form, ov prf ere ava> ovS" ov pr) (re 6T/eaTaA,m». ' I will
not not leave thee, neither not not forsake thee.' Five negatives. He
will not, yea, he will not ; surely he will not forsake his servants, or
neglect them, and withdraw his presence and providence from them.
[3.] For the duplication, ' I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee.'
Joseph told Pharaoh the dream was doubled, because it was established
by God, Gen. xli. 32.
All this is to show how dull and stupid we are in conceiving of
God's promises : ' 0 ye fools, and slow of heart to believe ! ' Luke
xxiv. 21. We are backward to everything, but especially to faith, or
dependence on God for something that lieth not in our own power.
Before we are serious and put to trial, nothing seemeth more easy than
dependence upon God ; but when it cometh to the push, it is evinced.
Now it is God's condescension that he will press these things again and
again, that we may not lose the comfort of the promise. The expres
sion is universal, to awaken our attention, to engage our hearts to
believe that he will not forsake us in our straits.
4. I observe, that it is a promise that every one must particularly
apply to his own case. God doth not say, ' I will not leave you, nor
forsake you,' as speaking to his people collectively, but distributively,
446 SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 5.
' tliee ; ' and that not only to Joshua, but to Israel : Deut. xxxi. 6, 8,
'Be strong, and of a good courage ; fear not, nor be afraid of them : for
the Lord thy God he it is that doth go with thee ; he will not fail thee,
nor forsake thee/ As in the decalogue, that every one might look upon
himself as concerned, God speaketh in the singular number to every
individual person, ' Thou shalt have no other gods ; ' so here, ' thou,'
as if spoken to by name, Thou, Peter, Andrew, Thomas, ' I will not
forsake thee.' Oh, that we had this spirit of application, and could
read our names in Christ's testament ! Omnis operatic fit per contac-
turn — The closer the touch upon our hearts, the greater the efficacy.
Break out your own portion of the bread of life : Job v. 27, ' Lo ! this,
we have searched it, so it is ; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.'
Christian ! how many promises dost thou know for thy good ? Canst
thou say, Here is my portion; blessed be God for this comfortable
promise to me ?
Doct. That God never utterly forsaketh or leaveth his people desti
tute to utter and insupportable difficulties. Why ?
1. The tenderness of his love will not permit it : Isa. xlix. 15, ' Can
a woman forget her sucking-child, that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget
thee.' There is no such affection as God hath to his children. The
mother, if she leave her sucking-child, she doth not utterly forsake him,
but runneth to the cry. So will God. He is unchangeable : Mai. iii.
6, ' I am the Lord ; I change not.' He is immutable in his grace, and
constant in his promise as well as his being. He needs no after
thoughts ; his purpose of love stands firm ; he willeth a change, but
changeth not his will. Though he uses various contrary means, yet
his love altereth not, as our condition altereth. We are full of incon
stancy, but not he. Death doth not make void Christ's interest, nor
cause his affection to cease when we are rotting in the grave. Where
God has once fixed his dwelling-place, he will never leave it again :
Ps. xxxvii. 28, ' The Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his
saints.' By judgment is meant righteousness or holiness, the rule ;
for conformity to the rule, that is the ground. His truth is plighted
in his promises. God hath ever stood upon his credit, especially when
his promise hath drawn forth the faith of his people : Ps. cxi. 5, ' God
will ever be mindful of his covenant ; ' Ps. ix. 10, ' They that know thy
name will put their trust in thee ; for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken
them that seek thee.' To disappoint a trust is accounted disingenuous
among men. No age can give an instance of this in God.
Object. But his people complain of being forsaken : Isa. xlix. 14, 'But
Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten
me/ Yea, Christ himself cried out, 'My God, my Grod, why hast thou
forsaken me ? ' Mat. xxvii. 46.
Ans. 1. Many times the saints complain without a cause. Sense
maketh lies of God : Ps. xxxi. 22, ' I said in my haste, I am cut off
from before thine eyes; nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my
supplications.' But there was no such matter : Ps. Ixxvii. 10, ' This
is my infirmity/ The Lord may seem to a perplexed heart to cast off a
man, and to suspend the course of his wonted favour, so as they may seem
to be without all hope and comfort of the promises when there is no such
matter.
SERMON UPON HEBREWS Xllt 5. 447
2. Though a child of God may be forsaken for a while, yet not for
saken for ever : Isa. liv. 7, 8, ' For a small moment have I forsaken,
thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee : in a little wrath I hid
my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I
have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy redeemer.' There may be
some short interruptions of a Christian's comfort. All things here are
subject to changes; there will be ebbs and flows, nights and days, in
our condition. There will be changes, but it is but for a moment.
Mercy will not come out of season, though carnal hopes may be spent :
Isa. xli. 17, ' When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none,
and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God
of Israel will not forsake them.'
3. There are three kinds of forsaking —
[1.] As to our outward and inward condition. Outwardly God may
reduce his people to great straits, and yet not forsake them. Every
condition is sweet where God is, and he is with us ia dangers and
afflictions : Isa. xliii. 2, ' When thou passest through the waters, I will
be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee ;
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither
shall the fire kindle upon thee.' God preserves not only from fire
and water, but in fire and water. He may exercise his people with
trouble, but he will not withdraw himself from them in trouble, but
will stay with them, and bear them company. Our worldly comforts
may be gone, but God stayeth behind ; we may be forsaken out
wardly, but are preserved inwardly: 'persecuted but not forsaken,'
2 Cor. iv. 9. He giveth support still: Ps. cxxxviii. 3, 'In the day^
when I cried, thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength*
in my soul/ God affords sweet refreshings to his people : 2 Cor. i. 5,
' For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also
aboundeth by Christ.' And gracious visits and experiences : Rom. v.
3-5, ' And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also, knowing that
tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience
hope ; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.'
[2.] Inward desertion is either in point of comfort or in point of
grace. Comfort may be withdrawn for the increase of grace. Rain
is necessary, as well as sunshine. We need many times our thorn in
the flesh. Grace is the main thing we should desire, though comfort
should not be despised. We should be rather more humble and more
diligent in a doubtful condition than in a settled.
[3.] In point of grace, there is a total desertion and a partial
desertion. God's people may be deserted really, but not utterly.
There is a seed remaineth in them, 1 John iii. 9, though they may lose
much of their liveliness and alacrity in God's service : ' My loving-
kindness I will not take from them.' David had brutish thoughts, yet
some sustentation : Ps. Ixxiii. 23, ' Nevertheless I am continually with
thee ; thou hast holden me by thy right hand.' He was kept from
being utterly overcome by the temptation. They have a secret
power to uphold them, as long as they have any tenderness left, with
desires of former enjoyments, and sensibleness of their present incon
venience. The degrees of grace may be lost when the habit reuiaiueth.
448 SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 5.
God's degrees of presence with us should be observed as well as his
degrees of absence. David bewaileth his folly, acknowledges susten-
tation.
4. The ends of this forsaking. There are three —
[1.] Sometimes to show us ourselves to ourselves : 2 Chron. xxxii.
31, ' Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes
of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in
the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in
his heart.' While God is present, comforting, quickening, and guiding
us, we do not know what pride and passion lieth hidden in our hearts.
God doth show the folly of our wisdom, the weakness of our strength,
and the imperfection of our graces by his forsaking us.
[2.] How ready he is to help in an extremity: Ps. xciv. 18, 19,
* When I said, My foot slippeth ; thy mercy, 0 Lord, held me up : in
the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.'
When we are at the brink of danger, and full of perplexities and dark
thoughts, then doth help appear.
[3.] To quicken us to look after him, and to draw us to nearer com
munion with himself : Hosea v. 15, ' I will go, and return to my
place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face : in their
affliction they will seek me early.' When afflictions press hard, it
puts an .edge upon our affections. Surely God hath left something
behind them when our affections draw to him : Dan. ix. 3, ' All this
evil is come upon us, yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our
God.' To be dead and. stupid then is a bad sign that we are deserted
in point of sensible comfort and duty too.
The use is to press you —
1. To believe this promise. You see how emphatically it is proposed.
The flesh, that loveth its own ease, will contradict, and carnal sense
will bring arguments against it ; therefore lay it up the more firmly.
Surely God will not forsake his people ; he hath such tender bowels,
such unchangeable love. He that made the new creature will not for
sake it. Will the dam forsake her young ones and let them perish ?
Christians ! he will let all the world perish rather than his saints perish.
God may hide himself, but never forsake them utterly. It is a rare
case to see them utterly destitute as to outward things : Ps. xxxvii. 25,
' I have been young, and now am old ; yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.' David aged, a man of much
observation, a great student of providence, yet never saw it. Ask the
beasts, fowls, or fishes : Job xii. 7, 8, ' Ask now the beasts, and they
shall teach thee ; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee ; or
speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee ; and the fishes of the sea
shall declare unto thee.'
2. Apply this promise ; God will not forsake me nor mine. Let
not truths be eyed only in the general, but particularly applied to thyself,
thus : Lord, thou hast ever been my God, provided for me hitherto. Take
these promises to live upon them, and say, ' Thy testimonies have I
taken as an heritage for ever,' Ps. cxix. v. 111.
3. Improve it.
[1.] To moderate your desires of earthly things, that your conversa
tion may be without covetousness ; for the more our desires abound,
SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 5. 449
the more our fears about them abound also Why should we be car
ried after them with such a greedy thirst ?
(1.) Man's happftiess lieth not in worldly abundance, but in the pre
sence of God with him, and his providence over him : Luke xii. 15, ' A
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he pos-
sesseth.' If you do not think so, you set up another god, the creature,
instead of God. Sometimes God giveth abundance to his people,
sometimes he keepeth them low and bare ; they do but live from hand
to mouth, because God will keep the purse in his own hand, and train
them to live by faith, and not by sense, and to take all their comforts
immediately from him. Now, are Christians any whit the worse pro
vided for ? No ; God hath ways enough to provide for his people, and
to satisfy sober and moderate desires : 2 Cor. vi. 10, ' As sorrowful,
yet alway rejoicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing,
and yet possessing all things.' There is more mischief than you are
aware of in this thought, that you are not well enough provided for,
unless your supplies be ready at hand and visible ; for it is a sign you
depend more upon the presence of the creature than the favour of God,
and will trust God no further than you can see him ; and this is the
cause of all repinings against providence, heartless dejections ; yea,
apostasy, unlawful means, racking and vexing ourselves with im-
. moderate cares and labours. It is next to atheism and plain infidelity
to ascribe to God only a common providence ; that he doth in the
general furnish the world, and store it with sufficiency, leaving us to our
own industry, to catch what we can catch and make it our own. No ;
faith sees God near at hand, and with us ; placing him not only in the
circle of the heaven, only beholding men scattered on the face of the
earth, and foraging for themselves. No ; his providence and care
reacheth to each single person ; he hath his eye opened, his ear bowed
down, his hand stretched out, to every one that seeketh to him ; we
are all at his finding In common plenty, he can punish single persons
with personal scarcity, as he did the prince of Samaria ; in general
scarcity, he can furnish with personal plenty, as Elijah did the widow
of Sarepta. Many allow God a general inspection, think he upholds
the pillars of the earth, but perceive not that God taketh care of par
ticulars, and so resolve to live by their wits, and shift for themselves.
But a good Christian seeth him at home, believeth God will take care
of him; and so casts himself into the arms of his providence, and
looketh upon every comfort as reached out from heaven by God's im
mediate hand to him in particular.
(2.) That the presence of God may be continued with us, though we
be cast into deep afflictions : ' As persecuted, but not forsaken,' 2 Cor.
iv. 9. He is miserable indeed who is forsaken of God, but not he who
is persecuted by man. Ccdestis ira quos premityniseros facit humana
nullos — God's anger makes those miserable upon whom it lights, but
not man's. They may be miserable that live in pomp, jollity, and ease,
and they may be happy that live in straits and pressures. Christ was
' a man of sorrows,' yet God was with him : John xvi. 32, ' I am not
alone, because the Father is with me.' Had Christ anything less of
the presence of God for his troubles ? Sins separate, afflictions do not :
Ps. xci. 13, ' I will be with him in trouble.' In the body of man, if
VOL. xvin. 2 F
450 SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 5.
any member be hurt, presently the blood and the humours run thither,
and the man is wholly taken up about that part which is hurt ; his
eyes, his hands, his tongue, as if he forgot all the rest : his speech is
about the hurt part, his eye is directed thither, his hand thither. In
a family, if one of the children be sick, all the mother's care is about
that child, to tend him, to take care of him, to blandish him, insomuch
that the rest do many times even envy his sickness. If nature do
thus, will not the God of nature do more ? If an earthly parent be so
careful of a sick child, will not an heavenly Father, whose love is far
more tender, take care of the hurt part of Christ's mystical body ?
The sick child is most looked after. This is the difference between
God and the world ; the world looketh after the happy, the flourishing,
but leaveth those who are in want and affliction. As all waters run to
the sea, where there is enough already, so do the respects of -the world
to the happy and the mighty. But God goeth another way to work,
he visits them that are in tribulation, comforts them that are mourners
in Zion.
(3.) Those that are rightly qualified are sure to have the presence
of God with them.
(1st.) They that fear God, and make it their business to please him :
Ps. cxv. 5, ' He hath given meat to them that fear him ; he will ever
be mindful of his covenant ; ' John viii. 29, ' The Father hath not left
me alone, for I do always the things that please him.'
(2c?.) Those that moderate their desires to earthly things, and do first
seek heavenly : Mat. vi. 33, ' Seek first the kingdom of God, and all
these things shall be added to you.' By so doing you drive on both
cares at once. There needeth not so much ado about the world ; you
may desire and have in spirituals ; yea, and other things cast into the
bargain.
(3d) Those that depend on his providence. They that do not trust
God cannot be long true to him. Uprightness is founded in a belief
of God's all-sufficiency : Gen. xvii. 1, ' When Abraham was ninety
years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham, and said unto, him,
I am the Almighty God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect.' They
that will not depend on God's providence seek by lies, violence, and
neglect of godliness to make their worldly portion great. One great
mischief introduced by the fall was that man would be his own carver ;
we would have our portion and stock in our ewn hands, would have
the care of ourselves devolved wholly upon ourselves, or else we grow
distrustful of God : Gen. iii. 22, ' The man is become as one of us,
knowing good and evil.' Our business at first was to please our creator,
and not to take care and thought for ourselves. It was our Father's
part to preserve us and provide for us, to bestow good and keep off the
evil ; but every maji since would have life, and his comfort, and his
safety in his own hands, and so much of temporal happiness as
he seeth good. There is no way to rectify it but to return to our in-
nocency ; to mind our duty, and cast our burden on the Lord, com
mending success and events to him : 1 Peter v. 7, ' Casting all your
care upon him, for he careth for you ; ' and Phil. iv. 6, ' Be careful
for nothing ; but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let our requests be made known unto God ; ' upon con-
SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 5. 451
fidence that his hand and providence will not neglect us, or any of our
concernments.
(4.) Those that are contented with what their Father alloweth.
When God giveth sufficient to supply our necessities, we seek to satisfy
our lusts ; when God hath done enough, and more than enough, to
evidence his power, justice, truth, and care of our welfare, yet we will
not rest on him, unless he will subject his providence to our will and
carnal affections. As the Israelites, when miraculously fed, miracul-
lously clothed ; God kept a market for them, gave them their supplies,
not out of earth, but out of the clouds, yet 'tempted God in their hearts,
asking meat for their lusts,' Ps. Ixxviii. 19. Yea, it is said, Ps. cvi.
13, 14, ' They soon forgat his works ; they waited not for his counsel,
but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness : ' they made haste, they for
gat his works ; so it is in the Hebrew. Carnal desires greatly trans
port ; they must have festival diet in the wilderness, or they will no
longer believe his power and serve him. Thus when men take the
ruling of themselves into their own hands, they will not stay till God
provide for them, but must have their carnal desires presently satisfied :
Mat. v. 5, ' The meek shall inherit the earth/ But who are meek ?
They that quietly submit to God's providence, and so they have food and
raiment, and have any time to glorify God, and seek his kingdom, and
the salvation of their souls. Let others live in pomp and ease ; it is
enough for them to be as God will have them be. They are not over-
desirous to have worldly things, or too much dejected and cast down
through the want of them. But those that are greedy and earnest,
and covet more than God seeth meet to bestow upon them, as they for
feit the blessing of God's presence, so, by enlarging their desires, they
make way for their own discontent when they are not satisfied, and
so fall into murmuring against God, and so into all disquiet of mind
about earthly things.
[2.] Improve this point to moderate and allay your distrustful and
distracting cares ; and so cometh in the apostle's exhortation, ' Be con
tent with such things as you have.' Content is a quiet temper of mind,
relying on God's merciful providence and gracious promises for such
things as are necessary for us during our pilgrimage and passage to
heaven. Sometimes it is opposed to murmuring ; but I take it here as
opposed to distrustful cares ; because we have little in a time of troubles,
and are like to have less ; and therefore are full of anxious thoughts,
what we shall eat, what we shall drink, what we shall put on. Con
sider, ' God will not leave you, nor forsake you.' What cannot his
wisdom and mercy and power do for you? He hath deeply and
strongly engaged himself to his people ; and therefore it should quiet
our minds in all necessities and straits. See Christ's arguments : Mat.
vi. 25, 26, 32, ' Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what
ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on : is not
the life more than meat, and the body than raiment ? '
(1.) They had life from God without any thought of theirs, there
fore he would provide the conveniences of life. God has given life, and
framed the body, which was a far greater act of power and mercy, than
giving food and providing raiment.
(2.) Other creatures are provided for without any solicitude of their?
452 SEKMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 5.
both as to food and raiment : ver. 26, ' Behold the fowls of the air ; for
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they ? '
God, that provideth for birds and fowls, will provide for his children.
Men may look for it more than they, having ordinary means of reaping
and sowing, and other trades and ways of living, which the fowls have
not, and so are merely cast on the care of Providence. Man is a more
considerable creature, so more liable to, God's care and providence.
(3.) It is a pagan practice to be thoughtful : ver. 32, ' After all these
things do the gentiles seek/
[3.] Improve it to remove our fears of danger, so that we may boldly
say, ' The Lord is my helper ; I will not fear what man can do unto
me.' They are David's words, Ps. cxviii. 6. If God be with us, he
will help us ; therefore, as faith prevaileth, fear ceaseth : Ps. xvi. 7,
'I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel; my reins also
instruct me in the night season.' If our hearts misgive us, God is our
second ; he will afford protection when necessary for his glory and our
good. The fear of man is an ordinary temptation to divert the godly
from their duty, or discourage them in it. You may be confident upon
such a promise : Ps. cxii. 7, ' He shall not be afraid of evil tidings ;
his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord/ Man can do much ; he can
fine, imprison, banish, reduce to a morsel of bread, yea, torture, put to
death ; yet as long as God is with us, and standeth for us, we may
boldly say, ' I will not fear what man can do/ Why ? because God
will not see them utterly perish. He can give us joy in sorrow, life in
death. A Christian is not afraid, because he can set God against man,
temporal things against eternal, covenant against providence.
(1.) God against man : Isa. li. 12, 13, ' I, even I, am he that com-
forteth you,' &c. God can change their hearts : Prov. xvi. 7, ' When a
man's ways please the Lord, he maketh his enemies to be at peace with
him.' He can weaken their power : Job xii. 21, ' He weakeneth the
strength of the mighty ; ' Mark xii. 41, ' Be not afraid of them that
nil the body, and can do no more/
(2.) Eternal things against temporal: 2 Cor. iv. 16, 'Our light
affliction for a moment, worketh for us an eternal weight of glory/
(3.) The covenant against providence: Ps. Ixxiii. 17, ' Till I went
into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end/
SERMON UPON 1 THESSALONIANS V. 8.
But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love ; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. —
1 THES. v. 8.
IN the context the apostle inferreth our duty from our profession of
Christianity. All Christians are taken into a new estate, called out of
darkness into light, and so are children of the day, and not of the night.
Now deeds of darkness will not become the broad daylight of the
gospel that we live in. He instanceth in two sins — negligence and
voluptuousness : ver. 7, ' They that sleep, sleep in the night ; and they
that are drunken, are drunken in the night.' Sleep is a night-work,
and drunkenness also is a night- work. He opposeth to these two duties
watchfulness and sobriety. He opposeth to sleep, watchfulness ; and,
as opposite to sensuality, he enforceth sobriety. Watchfulness implieth
a carefulness and constancy in our duty, and sobriety an holy modera
tion in all earthly things ; and more particularly a sparing use of worldly
delights, that security may not grow upon us, and the day of the Lord
surprise us unawares. Unless we moderate our affections in the pur
suit and use of earthly things, a strange benumbedness seizeth on the
conscience, and an oblivion and forgetf ulness of God and heavenly things
presently followeth it : Luke xxi. 34, ' Take heed to yourselves lest at
any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness,
and cares of this life ; and so that day come upon you unawares.' Now
the apostle doth not barely dissuade them from sleep and sensuality, as
we would persuade a man that hath an ordinary work to do to prevent
sloth -and loss of his day-time, which was made for work ; but as we
would deal with a soldier that is upon his watch to prevent danger.
Therefore it doth imply, not only how misbecoming these things are,
but how baneful. It is not enough to be sober, but we must be armed,
else we cannot be safe from temptations. Our life is a conflict, and
our graces are our armour : Rom. xiii. 12, ' The night is far spent, the
day is at hand ; let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on
the armour of light/ Therefore it is not enough for us to be sober or
to be awake, but prepared for our spiritual warfare : ' But let us who
are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love ;
and for an helmet, the hope of salvation/
In the text there is a double exhortation —
1. To keep ourselves awake : ' But let us who are of the day be sober/
The word is vrj<f)(o/j,6v ; it signifieth both sobriety and watchfulness. The
454 SERMON UPON I THESSALONIANS V. 8.
meaning is, take heed we be not lulled asleep by worldly desires, cares,
and pleasures.
2. To put on our armour. Two pieces he commendeth to them, a
breastplate and an helmet. Men fence the breast for the heart's sake ;
and the head is the seat of the sense, upon whose safety dependeth
principally the safety of the whole body, for the head guideth the whole
body. Wounds in either of these two parts are most dangerous.
Now —
[1.] The breastplate consisteth of two graces, faith and love ; these
two are joined together, for the one can do nothing without the other.
Faith without love is but a dead opinion, and love to God in Christ
cannot be without faith ; both together enable us to do notable things
for God : Gal. v. 6, ' Faith worketh by love.' What can withstand
faith working by love ?
[2.] The helmet is ' the hope of salvation,' or a sure and earnest
expectation of our eternal reward from Christ. Keep these, and you
shall not only be in a blessed condition when the day of the Lord cometh,
but in all your troubles, trials, and temptations you are safe for the pre
sent, and you shall not miscarry by the way.
If any say the pieces of the spiritual armour are otherwise reckoned
up, Eph. vi., I answer — (1.) Metaphors may be several ways used;
and in these things, so the matter be fitly delivered and understood, it
is enough. (2.) Here the apostle showeth what is necessary to watch
ing ; there, to fighting. He that watcheth provideth for enemies, but
doth not presently encounter them ; and therefore here a decorum is
observed. Livy tells us of Paulus Emilius, Vigiles novo more, scutum
in vigiliam ferre vetuit. It is enough if he hath a breastplate, though
no shield ; for his business is not presently to fight, but to excite others
to fight, when he perceiveth the enemy approaching ; a breastplate is
enough, till he call others to help him.
Doct. Christians are not well prepared for their spiritual warfare till
they have put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet
the hope of salvation.
1. It is supposed that it concerneth us to arm ourselves for a conflict.
Partly because we have sore enemies, the devil, the world, and the
flesh. The devil is a roaring lion, and must be resisted : 1 Peter v. 8,
9, ' Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roar
ing lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour ; whom resist,
steadfast in the faith.' The world either vexeth us with fears or enticeth
us by hopes, and must be overcome : 1 John v. 4, 5, ' For whosoever
is born of God overcometh the world ; and this is the victory that over-
cometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ? ' but the
sorest enemy is within, to wit, our own flesh, which must be subdued
and tamed : Gal. v. 24, ' They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh,
with the affections and lusts.' Partly because we are constantly
observed how we acquit ourselves in the conflict. Now for the present
there are spectators, God and his holy angels ; hereafter there will be
a judge, Jesus Christ. Now there are spectators : 1 Cor. iv. 9, ' For
we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels and to men.'
He speaketh there of the apostles, who were, as it were, exposed as the
SERMON UPON I THESSALONIANS V. 8. 455
forlorn hope, set up in the eye of this world; but it is true of all Christians.
Chrjst maketh inspection now, for we fight in his presence ; he seeth
how his people carry themselves in their conflicts and temptations:
' I know thy works : behold, I have set before thee an open door, arid no
man can shut it ; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word,
and hast not denied my name/ Kev. iii. 8. But Christ, who is now a
spectator, will be hereafter a judge : 2 Tim. iv. 8, ' Henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day.' Now he observeth, then he crown-
eth his combatants ; partly that we may thoroughly discharge our duty.
We can hardly do any good, but we must fight for it ; but especially
in the great work of our heavenly calling, practical Christianity is a
serious application of the mind and heart to do what Christ hath
required, that we may obtain what he hath offered ; and to do it as our
first work and chief business : Phil. ii. 12, ' Work out your own salva
tion with fear and trembling ; ' Phil. iii. 14, ' I press toward the mark,
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus ; ' 2 Peter iii.
14, ' Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent,
that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless/
Now the devil will not let you alone in this earnest diligence, but
seeketh to break your resolutions, or deaden your affections, or damp
and discourage your zeal ; and the flesh joineth with him, especially
when the world frowneth upon your endeavours, and are set against
you for being so faithful to Christ.
2. That they are not prepared till they are endowed with faith, hope,
and love. To evidence this, I shall show — (1.) Their nature ; (2.)
Their mutual respect to one another. (3.) Their use in the spiritual
conflict.
I. Their nature.
1. Faith, which is a firm and cordial assent to the doctrine of the
gospel, of such things as are revealed by God, because revealed by him.
[1.] The object.
(1.) The material object of faith in general is such things as are
revealed by God in his word : Acts xxiv. 14, ' Believing all things which
are written in the law and the prophets.' The precepts, promises,
threatenings, histories, mysteries. The general faith goeth before the
particular ; there is no building without a foundation. The special
object is God's transactions about man's salvation by Christ: John
xvii. 3, 'This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.'
(2.) The formal consideration is, because revealed by him : John iv.
42, ' Now we believe, not because of thy saying ; for we have heard him
ourselves, and believe that this indeed is the Christ, the saviour of the
world ; ' that is, because they had heard his words, and were convinced
and satisfied : 1 Thes. ii. 13, 'Ye received it not as the word of men,
but (as it is in truth) the word of God, which effectually worketh also
in you that believe.' Not as any doctrine devised of men, but as sent
by God from heaven, for the benefit of mankind.
[2.] The act of the soul. It is an assent. The understanding hath
a double act about divine truths. (1.) Knowledge, or a due apprehen
sion of them; (2.) Exercising a judgment about them. This is
acknowledgment or assent ; and this assent hath two adjuncts —
456 SERMON UPON I THESSALONIANS V. 8.
(1.) It is a firm belief of these things. There is a latitude and
difference in the firmness of assent ; there is conjecture or opinion,
which is a weak faith, but assurance doth best : Col. ii. 2, ' That their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all
riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of
the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.' I say, there i»
a difference. In the firmness of assent there is certitudo notitice and
certitudo adhcer entice, a certainty of knowledge and a certainty of
adherence ; but in all that are sincere, it is so firm as to sway our choice,
incline our hearts, and govern our resolutions, that we see all the reason
in the world to follow the way which Christ hath prescribed, that we
may be everlastingly happy ; whatever it cost, they will venture : Heb.
x. 39, ' But we are not of them that draw back unto perdition, but of
them that believe to the saving of our souls.' Sense saith, Spare the
flesh ; but faith saith, Save the soul.
(2.) It is a cordial belief, or such as engageth the heart ; for faith
considereth not only the evidence of things propounded, but the weight,
worth, and greatness of them : 1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation.' Simon Magus believed, but his heart
was not right with God, Acts viii. 13, compared with ver. 21. So, 'Many
believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did ; but
Jesus committed not himself to them, because he knew all men,' John
ii. 23, 24. This is faith ; for first men believe, then love, then hope,
then lift up the head.
2. Love, which is a grace which inclineth our hearts to God as our
portion and chief happiness. This overruleth all their affections ta
their outward interests : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but
thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.' Here
we shall consider —
[1.] The qualification of the object. Love in the general considereth
the object as good. God is good in himself, and good to us : Ps. cxix..
68, ' Thou art good, and doest good ; ' and we love God as a good God,
having received our beings from him : Rom. xi. 36, ' For of him,, and
through him, and to him are all things.' And being redeemed by him
when all was forfeited into the hands of his justice : 1 John iv. 19, ' We
love him, because he loved us first.' And looking to expect more from
him when all his promises shall be fulfilled : 1 John iii. 1, 2, ' Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God ; and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that when he shall
appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.'
[2.] The respect of love to the object. It is such a respect as be-
cometh the chief good and happiness ; such a superlative and trans
cendent love, that our love to other things should be as no love when
it is compared or cometh in competition with our love to God. There
are two acts of love to God — desire after him, and delight in him.
(1.) Desire is the pursuit of the soul after God, that we may get
nearer to him. It is expressed usually by seeking after God ; and
when God is sought after in the first place, then are we said to love
God ; as Prov. viii. 17, ' I love them that love me, and they tkat seek
SERMON UPON 1 THESSALONIANS V. 8. 457
me early shall find me.' All duties and all acts of the spiritual life are
a seeking after more of God : Ps. Ixiii. 8, ' My soul followeth hard after
thee ; ' Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will
I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of
my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.'
This ardent and burning desire is a great effect of love to God ; but
when men are cold and flat, and more indifferent as to the distinguish
ing testimonies of God's love, there is something on this side God which
doth content us and divert us from him.
(2.) Delight in God. The highest exercise of this is reserved for
the world to come, when we shall enter into our Master's joy ; but now
it is a pleasing thing to think of him : Ps. civ. 34, ' My meditation of
him shall be sweet : I will be glad in the Lord.' And to speak of
him : Eph. v. 4, ' Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks.' And to con
verse with him : Ps. cxxii. 1, ' I was glad when they said unto me.
Come, let us go into the house of the Lord.' Yea, it is the pleasure of
their lives to serve and obey him : Ps. cxii. 1, ' Blessed is the man
that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.'
This complacency or well-pleasedness of the mind in God should be
much regarded by us, and is known by this, when those mercies are
most valued which are nearest to himself, and do show us most of God,
and least detain us from him, such as his favour, his Spirit, or sanc
tifying grace ; when these are desired, when these are delighted in, we
are said to love God : Mat. v. 6, ' Blessed are they that hunger and
thirst after righteousness ; ' Ps. iv. 6, 7, ' Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon us : thou hast put gladness into my heart.'
His favour is as life, his displeasure as death to the soul .- Ps. xxx. 7,
' Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.' Now thus must we
love God, not with a partial and half love, but such as transcendeth
our love to all other things : Mat. x. 37, ' He that loveth father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me.' If anything be nearer and
dearer to us than God, we do not sincerely love him. Some have a
weak, imperfect motion of their will, a wish, a faint desire to please
God, but not a strong volition or inclination of heart to love him in all,
and above all things ; but being overcome by their lusts, they do not
simply and absolutely .and uncontrollably desire it, but had rather
please their fleshly lusts than please God. At least the event doth
evidence it ; you give God nothing if you give him not all the heart
We are so to love God as to seek his glory and do his will, even when it
is cross to our carnal interests, that his favour may be counted our
happiness, and the pleasing of him our greatest work. Surely they do
not love God that cannot deny a lust for him, or venture the loss of
anything that is dear to them for his sake, but, with Pilate, will yield
to crucify Christ, rather than venture the Jews' displeasure ; or, with
the Gadarenes, will part with Christ, rather than their swine. Others-
have a deliberate resolution, and seem for the present to resolve absolutely
and seriously to please God in all things and keep his commandments,
but they do not verify it in their conversations. Their purposes and
resolutions are not dissembled for the present, but soon changed ; they
neither keep the commandments of God, nor study to please him.
458 SERMON UPON 1 THESSALONIANS V. 8.
3. The next grace is ' Hope of salvation ; ' and here — (1.) The
subject ; (2.) The respect to the object.
[1.] The object is our eternal reward ; for a Christian must chiefly
fetch his supports and solaces from the other world, where all things
do abundantly counterbalance the temptations of the present life. Be
they troubles and sufferings: 2 Cor. iv. 17, 'For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory/ Glory for affliction, and a weight of glory
for a light affliction, and eternal glory for what is momentary affliction.
Or be they sensual delights, as riches : Heb. xi. 26, ' Esteeming the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward.' How much better is
it to be poor and scorned here than to be destitute and rejected for ever
hereafter ! So for pleasures ; most men look at present pleasures, not
at future joys, and therefore forget God, and neglect their souls, and
those eternal pleasures which are at God's right hand, Ps. xvi. 11.
But to a gracious man a glorious estate of bliss is far more eligible
than momentary sinful pleasures.
[2.J The respect to the object. It is a certain and earnest expec
tation.
(1.) It is certain, because our hopes are built upon the promises of
God, which infer not only a possibility, or probability, but certainty of
the things promised, if we be duly qualified. There is a twofold
certainty — conditional and actual. Conditional : Kom. ii. 7, c To them
who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honour,
and immortality, eternal life ; ' that is, built on the covenant which
promiseth to the penitent believer and mortified and diligent practiser
a sure reward. Actual certainty is where the qualification is evident ;
this is built on spiritual sense or experience: Rom. v. 4, 5, 'And
patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not
ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.' Our condition is made safe by
the first, comfortable by the second ; in both a certainty is required.
The first is spoken of Heb. iii. 6, ' Whose house we are, if we hold
fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.'
The second, Heb. vi. 11, ' And we desire that every one of you do show
the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end.'
(2.) It is an earnest expectation, called 'a lively hope/ from the
effect, because it puts life into our endeavours : 1 Peter i. 3, ' Who
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope/ The soul is weak when
our expectation is cold and languid ; but serious and earnest thoughts
of the world to come do warm our hearts, and enkindle our affections ;
as mourning : 2 Cor. v. 2, ' For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to
be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven/ And joy :
Kom. v. 2, ' We rejoice in hope of the glory of God/
II. Their mutual respect to one another. We know God in Christ
by faith ; we are inclined to him as our felicity and happiness by love ;
and we look for the eternal enjoyment of him by hope. As the object
is diversified, so the grace conversant about it is called by several
names; as our supreme good is something invisible or unseen, we
apprehend it by faith ; as it is good and excellent, we embrace it by
SERMON UPON 1 THESSALONIAKS V. 8. 459
love ; as it is absent and future, we wait for it by hope. The under
standing is cleared by faith ; that is our spiritual eye-salve : Heb. xi.
1, 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of
things not seen ; ' as things are invisible by reason of their nature or
distance : Eph. i. 18, ' The eyes of your understandings being enlight
ened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.' By it we see
things that cannot otherwise be seen, or in another manner than we
saw them before. We see more amiableness in God, more odiousness
in sin, more excellency in Christ, more beauty in holiness, more vanity
in the world, more reality in blessedness to come, than we saw before.
Our wills are warmed by love, or carried out after the supreme good,
with an earnest and strong desire : Isa. xxvi. 9, ' With my soul have I
desired thee in the night ; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek
thee early.' Where love is strong, desires after God are early and
earnest, and we cannot be contented without him, or such enjoyment
of him as may give us assurance of more. Our resolutions and inclin
ations are fortified by hope, that we may continue seeking after God,
and not be diverted, either by the comfortable or troublesome things
we meet with here in the world. Not by the comfortable things:
1 Peter i. 13, 'Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind; be sober,
and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ.' Nor by the troublesome things of the
world : Kom. viii. 39, ' Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.' Well, then, the supreme good, or fruition of the
ever-blessed God, is believed, sought after, waited for. We know it by
faith, we seek it by love, we wait for the enjoyment of it by hope.
Faith affordeth us light to discover it, and direct us to it ; love pos-
sesseth the soul with a desire to enjoy it ; and hope giveth us a
confidence of obtaining it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
" III. Their use in the spiritual conflict.
1. They impel us to do our duty with all diligence, whatever temp
tations we have to the contrary : 1 Thes. i. 3, ' Remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope.'
Whence you see work is ascribed to faith, labour to love, and patience
to hope. Work to faith, because that grace is working, and ready to
break out into obedience : 2 Thes. i. 11, ' And the work of faith with
power.' Labour to love, because love puts men upon industry and
diligence ; they that love God will be hard at work for him : Heb.
vi. 10, ' For God is not unrighteous, to forget your work and labour of
love.' Patience to hope, because that grace produceth endurance and
constancy : 2 Thes. iii. 5, ' The Lord direct your hearts into the love
of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ/ And the good
ground ' brought forth fruit with patience,' Luke viii. 19. In short,
you see these graces are of an operative and vigorous nature. Faith
is but a dead opinion unless it break out into practice ; love but a cold
approbation of the ways of God unless we overcome our slothfulness ;
hope but a few slight thoughts of heaven unless we persevere and hold
out till the time of retribution cometh.
2. These graces restrain and subdue those corrupt inclinations which
460 SERMON UPON 1 THESSALONIANS V. 8.
are yet in the heart, and would be a great impediment to us if they be
not more and more overcome ; such as ungodliness and worldly lusts,
atheism, or a denial of God's being, and unbelief or distrust of his pro
mises. Worldly lusts : Titus ii. 12, ' Teaching us to deny ungodliness
and worldly lusts ; ' that is to say, worldly fears, and worldly desires, or,
in one word, the sensual inclination called the spirit of the world.
These can never be overcome without faith, by which the mind is
soundly persuaded of the truth of salvation by Christ ; nor without
love, by which the will is firmly resolved and bent upon it ; nor with
out hope, by which the executive powers are fortified and strengthened
in their operations. In short, when the doctrine of Christ concerning
things to be believed and done is first propounded to us-, it findeth us
wedded to the world, and entangled in the vanities thereof; but as this
doctrine is received and believed, the bent and inclination of our souls
is altered; a new bias is put upon us, and our love to God and
heavenly things is more and more increased ; the heart is set to seek
after God, and that with the greatest earnestness and diligence. With
out this, the carnal and worldly inclination prevaileth over us. As in
the want of faith : Heb. iii. 12, ' Take heed, brethren, lest there be in
any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.'
Want of love : 1 John ii. 15, 16, ' Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world.' Want of hope : Heb. x. 35, ' Cast not away
therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.'
Many are beaten out of their Christianity at last, because they cannot
tarry for Christ's recompenses.
3. To fortify us against all evil without. Besides corruptions within,
there are temptations without ; manifold afflictions, which Satan
maketh use of to draw us to sin. Now these three graces arm us
against them, 2 Tim. i. 7, where he speaketh of enduring the afflictions
of the gospel by the power of God : ' God hath not given us a spirit of
fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.' Faith, hope, and
love are intended thereby ; by a spirit of power meaning hope, which
breedeth fortitude, notwithstanding dangers and threats of men ; love
retaineth its own name ; and by the sound mind is meant faith. All
these help us to encounter the difficulties and hardships of our pilgrim
age, and breed in us a tranquillity of mind, and contentedness in every
state.
4. Without faith, hope, and love we cannot pray to God, nor enter
tain any sweet communion with him while we dwell in flesh : Jude 20,
21, ' But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.' That clause,
' Praying in the Holy Ghost/ is to be referred in common to them all ;
praying to be built up in our most holy faith, praying to be kept in the
love of God, praying that we may look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
to eternal life. Prayer is not an exercise only of our natural faculties,
but also of the three fundamental graces of the Spirit. There are three-
agents in prayer, the human spirit, the new nature, and the Spirit of
SERMON UPON 1 THESSALONIANS V. 8. 4G1
'God. The human spirit, for by the understanding and memory we
work upon the will and affections. The new nature, as prayer is the
work of faith, hope, and love. And the Holy Ghost is there mentioned,
as also, Kom. viii. 26, 27, ' Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infir
mities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought ; but the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be
uttered : and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit ; because he maketh intercession for the saints according
to the will of God.' The middle is to our purpose. Now prayer is a
work of faith, as the great mysteries of our most holy faith are therein
reduced to practice : Eph. ii. 18, ' For through him we both have an
access, by one Spirit, unto the Father/ Love is acted in prayer, as we
delight ourselves in conversing with God ; all our desires and groans
in prayer are acts of love, expressing our longings after more of God.
Hope is acted in prayer, as we express our trust in God, and the merits
and intercession of Christ, and plead his gracious promises. Prayer
itself is but hope put into language : Ps. Ixii. 8, ' Trust in him at all
times, ye people ; pour out your hearts before him.' On the other
side, when we omit prayer, or perform it coldly or cursorily, surely
there is a defect in their faith, love, or hope. A defect of faith ; they
do not believe God's being and providence, and the promises of God's
holy covenant : Ps. xiv. 1, ' The fool hath said in his heart, There is
no God ; ' and ver. 4, ' They call not upon the Lord.' The practical
atheist is one that doth not pray at all times, nor much, nor often call
upon God : Mai. iii. 14, ' Ye have said, It is in vain to serve God, and
what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have
walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts ? ' Or if they do not
soundly believe his covenant : Kom. x. 14, ' How shall they call on
him in whom they have not believed ? ' How can they address them
selves to God in Christ if they are not rooted in the faith of the
gospel ? Or sometimes a defect in their love to God, because they
have no delight in him : Job xxvii. 10, * Will he delight himself in
the Almighty ? will he always call upon God ? ' Isa. xliii. 22, ' But
. thou hast not called upon me, 0 Jacob ; but thou hast been weary of
me, 0 Israel.' They are glutted with worldly happiness, and so God
is neglected : Jer. ii. 31, 32, ' Have I been a wilderness unto Israel ?
a land of darkness ? Wherefore say my people, We are lords, we will
come no more unto thee ? Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a
bride her attire ? Yet my people have forgotten me days without
number.' Or a defect in their hope, they despair either of assistance
or acceptance with God. David, when he had lost his peace by some
wounding sin, he had not the heart to go to God : Ps. xxxii. 3, ' I
kept silence ; ' 1 John iii. 21, ' If our hearts condemn us not, then have
we confidence towards God.' Sin represents God as an angry judge.
God is terrible to a guilty conscience. We inherit this as coming from
Adam : Gen. iii. 8, ' Adam and his wife hid themselves from the pre
sence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden/
5. We are not prepared for death and judgment without faith, hope,
and love ; but either of these days will be terrible to us
[1.] Death. Take either grace, faith, hope, or love. Faith ; first
we live by faith, and afterwards we die by faith : Heb. xi. 13, ' These
462 SERMON UPON 1 THESSALONIANS V. 8.
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them.' The
intervening promises are most questioned in the present life, because
of the urgency of present necessities; but the great promise is questioned
hereafter. When we are to launch out into eternity, it is a hard
matter to look with a steady confidence into the other world ; when
the soul must flit out of the body, to see heaven open to receive it
needs a strong faith : John xi. 25, 26, ' I am the resurrection and the
life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ;
and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die : believest
thou this ? ' So for love ; that is necessary, that we may be willing to
go home to our Father, who hath admitted us into his family, pardoned
our sins, and relieved our souls. And it is a great encouragement in
the hour of death, when we are to leave the world, and come imme
diately into his presence, who hath done such great things for us, and
is now about to do more. But in what a woful case are they who
must appear before a God whom they never knew nor heartily loved,
and with whom they never had communion and acquaintance ; they
never had experience of his kindness nor interest in his love, and now
are forced into his presence against their will ! Certainly it is faith
and love must smooth and sweeten our passage into the other world,
and make it comfortable to us. Love overcometh our natural loath-
ness to quit the body : 2 Cor. v. 8, ' We are confident, and willing
rather to be absent from the body, and be present with the Lord.' To
enjoy Christ's presence, we can part with what is nearest and dearest
to us. So for hope ; in what a lamentable case are men when they
come to die if they are without hope ! Job xxvii. 8, ' What is the hope
of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his
soul ? ' They are full of presumption and blind confidence now, while
they swim in the full stream of worldly comforts and advantages ; but
when this dotage is over, they have no solid comfort, but either die sense
less and stupid, or are filled with horror and despair, and their hopes
fail them when they have most need of them.
[2.] So for the judgment ; for the context speaketh of the day of the
Lord, which cometh unexpectedly on the sensual and careless, and
is matter of terror to them ; but it is welcome to the godly, who are-
upon their guard, and have long looked and prepared for it. Now,
what is the due preparation for judgment, but furnishing ourselves
•with faith, love, and hope ? For these graces do both put us on that
spiritual care which is necessary for waiting for it, and also fill us with
confidence and comfort. Faith : 2 Thes. i. 10, ' When he shall come
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe,
because our testimony among you was believed in that day.' Love is
necessary : 1 John i. 17, 18, ' Herein is our love made perfect, that we
may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we
in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out
fear, because fear hath torment ; he that feareth, is not made perfect
in love/ Hope : Heb. ix. 28, 'And unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time, without sin unto salvation.'
Use 1. Is to persuade us to get these graces, all of them ; partly
because without them the new creature is not perfect ; you will want
SERMON UPON 1 THESSALONIANS V. 8. 463
sight, life, or strength, either an eye, or an heart, or a power to act ;
and .partly because they have a mutual influence one upon another ;
faith and hope upon love, for faith looketh backward to the wonders of
God's love shown in our redemption by Christ ; hope looketh forward
to the state of glory and blessedness prepared for us ; and both excite
our love to God, and thankful obedience to him. Again, faith and love
breed hope, for they that believe and love Christ's appearing will wait
for it, and not think of it with perplexity and fear, but with comfort
and delight. There is a great deal of grace then to be brought to us.
Well, then, labour to get all these graces. To this end—
1 . Kemove the impediment, that is, a careless vanity of mind, which
groweth upon us through an indulgence to the delights of the flesh, so
that either we have none, or seldom and cursory thoughts of God, or
Christ, or the world to come. ' Let us be sober/ as in the text ; so*
1 Peter i. 13, ' Be sober, and hope to the end.' Draw off your
affections from carnal vanities or delights of the senses, that you may
more earnestly mind God and heaven.
2. Wait on all opportunities of profiting, and use the known means
of grace more conscionably. These graces indeed are not acquired, but
infused ; they are God's gifts. As for faith : Eph. ii. 8, ' For by grace-
ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of
God.' So for love : 1 John iv. 7, ' Beloved, let us love one another, for
love is of God.' Not only recommended to us by his example, but
wrought in us by his Spirit. So for hope : Rom. xv. 13, ' Now the-
God of hope fill ye with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.'' But God
loveth to bless us by his own means, which are the word and prayer.
Use 2. Exercise these graces. Remember they are your armour and
furniture for the conflict, when your resolutions of obedience to God are
most assaulted, or you are apt to be discouraged.
1. When any want, cross, sorrow, or tribulation overtaketh you upon-
earth, fetch your comforts from God, Christ, and heaven. Be sure that
faith, hope, and love be at work ; so the children of God are wont ta
do in their deep afflictions. How calamitous soever our condition be,
faith can see that there is comfort enough to be had in God, Christ, and
the covenant : 1 Peter i. 8, ' In whom, though now ye see him not,
yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' So
for hope: Rom. xii. 12, •' Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation/
Though we are pressed with wants and miseries, yet there is a better
state to come. And in the worst condition, love can rejoice in God :
Hab. iii. 18, ' Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of
my salvation/
2. In some grievous temptation, whereby we are apt to wax weary
in our minds, stir up these graces. Do I believe the promises, heartily
love God, and hope for his salvation ? and shall his service, or my
fidelity to him, be tedious to me? When some present delight
inviteth us to sin, or some present bitterness to draw us off from God,
in time of temptation, these graces are seasonably acted, to counter
balance things carnal with spiritual, things present with future : Heb.
xi. 35, ' They were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might
obtain a better resurrection/
SERMON UPON PEOVERBS XIV. 14.
The backslider in heart slwll be filled with his own ways ; and a good
man shall be satisfied from himself. — PROV. xiv. 14.
IN the Proverbs we must not look for method and coherence ; for these
sentences are not as golden links in a chain, hanging one to another,
but as pearls in a string ; every sentence is precious, but independent
of each other. In this proverb I shall take notice of —
1. The drift of the Holy Ghost.
2. The art and contrivance, so as may best suit that scope.
First, The drift of the Holy Ghost is the same with that of many
other scriptures, and divers passages in the Proverbs also, which may
serve for a doctrine.
Doct. That whether good or bad, every one shall reap the fruit of his
own ways.
Isa. iii. 10, 11, ' Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with
them ; for they shall eat the fruit of their own doings. Woe unto the
wicked ; it shall be ill with him ; for the reward of his hands shall be
given him.' To keep up the hearts of that small company of godly
persons that yet remained among them, God giveth them assurance of
his goodness ; they shall fare well, whatsoever befalleth others. . All
things that happen shall be good, or work for good, to better their
hearts or hasten their glory ; for they shall enjoy the fruit of all their
labours. But it is sure to go ill with the wicked, for he shall be
rewarded according to what he hath wrought. Lest you should think
this a particular promise to that time only, Solomon maketh it the
common cordial of the saints against the prosperity of the wicked :
Eccles. viii. 12, 13,' Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his
days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them
that fear God, that fear before him.' But it shall not be well with the
wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow;
because he feareth not before God/ Wicked men, though they escape
long, they shall not escape always ; though punishment be delayed, it
is at length executed, and generally they do not live long. Lest you
think this is spoken pro more fcederis, according to the tenor of the
Mosaical covenant, where long life is promised instead of eternity, and
short life threatened as a curse, let us see what the gospel saith, where
we have greater encouragements to quicken us to hold fast our integrity,
and go on steadily in our obedience and patient waiting on God : Bom.
SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14. 465
vi. 21-23, ' What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed ? For the end of those things is death. But now, being
made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit
unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is
death ; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our
Lord.' Where the different recompenses are asserted, and the manner
how they accrue to us ; death to sin as wages, and life to obedience as
the mere gift of God ; not merited by us, but bountifully bestowed by
him : this is the drift of the Holy Ghost, to show that different courses
have contrary ends and issues.
.Secondly, The art and contrivance of this short saying, whereby
this truth may the better be insinuated into our minds; and here,
(1.) I shall take notice that here are two different persons spoken of,
the backslider in heart, and the good man. (2.) That both desire to
be filled or satisfied. (3.) That the one taketh his own ways, and the
other God's direction. (4.) That in the event they are both filled,
but in a different sense. (5.) That, rightly understood, every one
hath this from himself; the backslider is filled with his own ways,
and the godly person hath his own choice, and eats of the fruit of his
doings.
I. Let us state the character of these different persons, for that is
the clue to guide us to the understanding of all the rest ; for according
to this the different course and end must be determined. Well, then,
the backslider in heart and the good man are opposed.
First, The backslider in heart is he that turneth his heart from
God and his ways, and daily groweth worse and worse. The word
may be rendered doubly, either aversus corde, or reversus corde ; and
so it is meant either of the ordinary wicked person, or of the apostate ;
the one turneth away from God after counsel, the other after trial.
1. It is meant principally and chiefly of the ordinary wicked person,
who turneth his heart back or away from wisdom and her invitations ;
as see the parallel place : Prov. i. 30, 31, ' They would none of my
counsel ; they despised all my reproof : therefore they shall eat of
the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.'
Where the same notions are used ; and it is presently added, ver. 32,
11 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them.' Though men
never professed godliness, yet their refusing to hearken to the call of
wisdom, or the counsel of God, doth bring them under this character,
the perverse or averse in heart. He that turneth away from his chief
good, and the way that should lead to the enjoyment of it, and indulgeth
his lusts and vain pleasures, he is the man. So the general corrup
tion of mankind is described : Kom. iii. 12, ' They are all gone out
of the way ; ' that is, the way that leadeth to true happiness. So Job,
professing his innocency, useth these expressions: Job xxiii. 11, 12,
* My foot hath held his steps ; his way have I kept, and not declined ;
neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips.' In
which words his intent was not to prove that he was no apostate, but
that he was no hypocrite or wicked person, which was the matter in
debate between him and his friends.
2. You may comprise the apostate, because scripture must not be
straitened in the exposition of it ; he that falleth away from those ways
VOL. XVIII. 2 G
466 SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14.
of holiness and righteousness, wherein he walked for a time, either
through the terrors or through the delights of sense. Against the
one the church protesteth : Ps. xliv. 17, 18, ' All this is come upon us, yet
have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant:
our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy
way.' Where apostasy from God and his commandments is expressed.
So Zeph. i. 6, ' Them that are not turned back from the Lord, and
those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him.' They
know a better way, and have walked in it, but at length are discouraged
with troubles and afflictions, or allured by worldly avocations and
advantages, and so desert their holy course, and the covenant of their
God wherein they were engaged. Now the word ' heart ' is emphatical ;
take it in either sense, and it showeth —
[1.] That the fountain and beginning of backsliding is in the heart.
They distrust God : Heb. iii. 12, ' Take heed, brethren, lest there be in
any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God/
Or grow weary of God, and therefore neglect their duty to him : Isa.
xliii. 22, ' But thou hast not called upon me, 0 Jacob ; thou hast been
weary of me, 0 Israel.' At least have not cor tale, a renewed heart :
Deut. v. 29, ' Oh, that they had such an heart in them that they would
fear me, and keep all my commandments always.'
[2.] It noteth their plenary desertion ; not a slipping back through
infirmity and inadvertency in some particular actions, but their hearts
were wholly estranged from God, and they deliberately and wilfully
gave over themselves to their corrupt affections ; their hearts are turned
away from the right way.
Secondly, The opposite is the good man ; and he is one —
1. That seeketh after the chiefest good, and adhereth constantly to
God in Jesus Christ, as his only felicity : Ps. iv. 6, 7, ' Lord, lift thou
up the light of thy countenance upon us ; thou hast put gladness in
my heart, more than in the time when their corn and their wine in
creased ; ' Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ; and
there is none on earth I desire besides thee.' Goodness is determined
by respect to the chiefest good, whether it be applied to persons or
things.
2. He doth not only cleave to God, but chooseth that way which
God hath prescribed men to walk in, whether the way of faith in Christ ;
as John xvii. 3, ' This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent ; ' or the way of new obedience ;
as Eccles. xii. 13, 'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter;
fear God, and keep his commandments ; for this is the whole duty of
man.' So Solomon concludeth his discourse about true happiness ; so
that he is good, and doeth good, and so is conformed to God his
pattern.
3. Yet he is in both sincerely, not perfectly good : Ps. cxxv. 4, ' Do-
good, 0 Lord, to those that be good, and to them that are upright in
heart ; ' that is, truly and sincerely good, though not exactly and per
fectly, according to the rigour of the law ; for so Eccles. vii. 20, ' There
is not a just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not ; ' but he
' hath a good and honest heart/ Luke viii. 1 5. Set to obey and please
God in all things, though he cannot do all the good that he would.
SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14. 467
And these upright in heart are opposed in the psalmist to such ' as
turn- aside to their crooked ways/ ver. 5, or the ' backslider in heart'
spoken of in the text. Their honest and sincere endeavours shall be
accepted and rewarded by God. Well, then, a good man is one whose
heart is turned to God, and who keepeth up his affections to him,
and walketh according to his counsel, in the way which he hath pre
scribed. These are the two persons that seek satisfaction and happi
ness in their different courses. These two contrary competitors have
their contrary choices ; and though they differ in their disposition,
they do not encroach one upon another in the object pursued after.
The godly, being taught by God, leaveth the world to the carnal, and
taketh God for his portion ; the worldling scrapeth on the earth, and
leaveth God and his saving grace to the godly.
II. I come now to show you that both desire to be filled or satisfied ;
the good and the bad, that so seldom agree in anything agree in this,
that both would be happy : Ps. iv. 6, ' Many say, Who will show us
any good ? ' You can no more doubt of this, that man would be happy,
than that man loveth himself. Man's heart is a chaos of desires ; like
a sponge, it sucketh something from without, and seeketh to draw it
to itself. They must have something which they apprehend to be
good ; for no man can live without some oblectation and delight. No
man hath sufficiency in himself, but seeketh abroad for it. Now
according to men's choice, so is their search and so is their obtaining,
and in both consists their true happiness or true misery. The back
slider in heart must be filled, and the good man must be satisfied.
The carnal would fain fill their minds with the vain delights of the
world ; they go no farther than riches, honours, and pleasures, and
despise God and his saving blessings. They would have ' their good
things in their lifetime/ Luke. xvi. 25. And therefore they are always
sucking upon the breasts of the world's consolation : Luke vi. 24, ' Woe
to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.' They
continually seek to fill themselves, and please their fleshly minds ; and
therefore either glut themselves with carnal delights, and are always
* making provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lust thereof/ Bom. xiii.
14. Cater for the body, but neglect the soul ; or else they ' seek to
join house to house, and field to field/ Isa. v. 8 ; or to be built a story
higher in the world. They are of the earth and incline to the earth,
and therefore earthly things are the height of their desires, and they
are filling and stuffing their hearts with the comforts of them more
and more. This is the comfort they live upon, the happiness they
affect. The godly man he must be satisfied too : he is a poor empty
creature, and therefore is ' hungering and thirsting after righteousness,
that he may be filled/ Mat. v. 6. He must have more of God, and
more of Christ, and more of grace ; and therefore he is sucking and
drawing, and can never be satisfied till he be ' filled up with all the
fulness of God/ Eph. iii. 19.
III. That they may be filled, they take their several ways ; the one
his own ways, the other God's direction. For of the backslider it is
said, ' He shall be filled with his own ways/ He despiseth God's
counsel, and taketh his own course, to live a pleasant and carnal life
here. So by the same proportion, the good man, that hath chosen
468 SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14.
God for his portion, taketh God's way, and obeyeth the call and invita
tion of wisdom.
First, ' The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways ; '
that is, such as suit with his own carnal heart
1. Naturally a man is addicted to carnal things more than spiritual,
and to worldly vanity rather than heavenly enjoyments, to the creature
rather than to God. Why ?
[1.] Because they are in part necessary for our uses, and so the
natural appetite desireth them, as well as the inordinate appetite,
which is corrupted by sin. Prosperity, plenty, wealth, honour, ease,
pleasure, are good for us, if subordinated to grace and better things :
* Wisdom with an inheritance is good,' Eccles. vii. 11 ; and again,
Eccles. v. 18, ' It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and
to enjoy the good of all his labours that he taketh under the sun
all the days of his life ; for it is his portion.' But alas ! Men are
apt to exceed their bounds, and become enchanted with the false
.happiness, so that they neglect the true and sit down contented with
their worldly portion, and God and eternity are little thought of or
cared for.
[2.] They are comfortable to our senses. The sweetness of wealth,
honour and pleasure, is known by feeling, and therefore known easily,
and known by all. Now whilst the soul dwelleth in the flesh, and
looketh out by the senses, we soon receive the taint which ariseth from
sensible objects : ' All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eyes, and pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world,' 1 John ii. 16.
[3.] They are suitable to our fancies and appetites : ' For they that
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, and they that are
after the Spirit the things of the Spirit,' Kom. viii. 5. Every one's gust
and taste is according to his constitution.
[4.] These things are near us, present with us, and ready to be
enjoyed ; whereas spiritual and heavenly things are unseen and afar
off : ' But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off,
and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins,' 2 Peter i. 9.
2. What is the issue of all this ? They love a worldly, a sensual,
and ungodly life ; and (1.) Eeligion is slighted and neglected. They
live in an oblivion of God : ' The wicked, through the pride of his
countenance, will not seek after God : God is not in all his thoughts,'
Ps. x. 4. The offers of grace and eternal life are not regarded : ' All
things are ready ; come unto the marriage : but they made light of it,
and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise,'
Mat. xxiii. 45. (2.) Yea religion and godliness is cast off and tram
pled upon : ' For Demas hath forsaken us, having loved this present
world/ 2. Tim. iv. 10. (3.) Or else opposed and persecuted, and by
none more than by those that once had some sense and taste of it :
Apostatce sunt maximi osores sui ordinis. 'The revolters are pro
found to make slaughters,' Hosea v. 2. By plausible pretences it is
palliated, and counsels are laid deep to extirpate the godly. Apostates
are most cruelly oppressive. (4.) Or if it be kept up, it is only to hide
and feed their lusts, making a market of religion, and denying the
power under the form of godliness : ' Having a form of godliness, but
SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14. 460
denying the power thereof,' 2 Tim. iii. 5. And the apostle speaketh
of some that ' supposed again to be godliness/ 1 Tim. vi. 5 ; that is,
made religion an advantageous trade : ' When thou dost thine alms, do
not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may have glory of men,' Mat. vi. 2. They
did it to be seen of men. And Luke xvi. 15, ' And he said unto them,
Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your
hearts ; for what is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the
sight of God.' (5.) They lead a life of pomp and ease, wallowing in
all manner of sin and sensuality ; as the carnal rich men are described,
James v. 1-5, to be such as lived in all voluptuousness, uncleanness,
and oppression. These are the ways from whence do they suck all their
pleasure and contentment, and therewith glut and fill themselves more
and more, some in a more gross, others in a more cleanly manner.
Secondly, It is implied that the good man seeketh God's direction,
for he is opposed to him that despiseth God's counsels. Now God
giveth this counsel by his word and Spirit.
1. In the word. In the scripture God hath showed us true happi
ness, and the way to it, which was a secret and a riddle to the world
before. True happiness is but one thing, but the world seeketh it in
many things. Two hundred and eighty-eight opinions were reckoned
up, and none lighted upon the truth ; and therefore we run about and
weary ourselves in a maze of uncertainty : ' How long wilt thou go
about, 0 backsliding daughter ! ' Jer. xxxi. 22. Experience will tell
us that nothing in the creature will make us completely blessed. It
is but labour in vain to seek it there : ' Wherefore do you spend your
money for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that which
satisfieth not?' Isa. Iv. 2. And the many religions in the world
prove not the remedy of mankind, but the disease. Only in Christ's
religion is the true rest and ease and repose of souls : Jer. vi. 1 6, ' Thus
saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way ? and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for
your souls ; ' Mat. xi. 28, 29, ' Come unto me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls.' Now in the scriptures pardon of sin is revealed,
which was a great secret to nature, for they were at a great loss about
the way to obtain it : Micah vi. 6, 7, ' Wherewith shall I come before
the Lord, and bow myself before the high God ? Shall I come before
him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old ? Will the Lord
be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of
oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my
body for the sin of my soul ? ' And ' life and immortality are brought
to light through the gospel,' 2 Tim i. 10. Now the good man is
wholly busied about observing God's direction, how the sore that hath
so long run upon him may be cured, and a proper happiness which
man gropeth after may be obtained : Acts xvii. 27, ' That they should
seek the Lord if haply they might feel after him and find him.' We
are fallen from God, and cannot be happy but in returning to him
again, nor completely happy till w"e attain to the full enjoyment of
him.
470 SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14.
2. By his Spirit. When David speaketh of choosing God for his
portion, he presently addeth, Ps. xvi. 7, ' I will bless the Lord, who
hath given me counsel ; ' we had else been as witless fools as others,
rejoicing in the creature apart from God in the midst of soul-dangers.
Without this nothing will reclaim us from our wanderings, neither
reason, nor experience, nor common grace. Now reason : it is easy to
prove the vanity of the creature, that it is not man's happiness to enjoy
the pleasures of the world, or to seek to be well here. We may argue
against their carnal practices, but what will our arguings avail ? Still
they are as worldly as ever, and seek satisfaction in their own ways :
' This their way is their folly, yet their posterity approve of their sayings,'
Ps. xlix. 13. Men may stand over the graves of their ancestors,
and say, Where is now their worldly honour, esteem, and favour, for
which they neglected God, slighted Christ, and sold their salvation ?
yet those that succeed them neglect true happiness as much as they
that went before, and are as careless of heavenly things. We see great
ones die as well as others, but who is bettered by it ? The survivors
are as greedy of gain, as sensual, as vain, and doting upon worldly
greatness as their fore runners were. So for experience, compare Deut.
xxix. 2-4, ' Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the
land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and all his servants, and to all his land,
yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see,
and ears to hear unto this day/ with Ps. xc. 12, ' So teach us to number
our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.' God must teach
us the plainest lessons. So for common faith, though we have been
trained up in the scriptures, though we know that we must enjoy God,
or we can never be happy, yet still we are wedded to carnal vanities.
Our respects to God are but notions and compliments. The fervency
and reality of our affections is intercepted by the world, or else there
could not be so many covetous Christians, voluptuous Christians,
ambitious Christians. Heart-idolatry is the most dangerous. Men are
sooner convinced than converted : ' Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof,' 2 Tim. iii. 5. Nay, though there be some
common work of the Spirit, and they do not only talk by rote, but have
some sense of the vanity of the world, and of the necessity and excel
lency of God's favour, ' some taste of the good word of God, and the
powers of the world to come/ Heb. vi. 45. Yet though they would
have Christ for their consciences, the world hath their affections. We
desire happiness, as children would fain have something, but are pleased
with rattles or any toy. We would be happy, but take up with any
thing that cometh next to hand. Thus we do till God cureth us by
enlightening our minds, or giving us counsel in our reins, and inclining
our hearts : Ps. cxix. 36, ' Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and
not unto covetousness.' The good man liveth in obedience to these
sanctifying motions of the Spirit.
IV. That as to the event, they are both filled, but in a different
sense.
First, I shall show how the wicked are filled with their own ways.
A wicked man he hath enough of sin in the punishment ; therefore it
is said, ' They shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with
their own devices/ Prov. i. 31 ; as a man that hath surfeited of pleasant
SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14. 471
meat hath enough of it when he feeleth the torments and gripes of his
surfeit. Now (1.) When is this ; and (2.) Why ?
1. When? It may be in this life, but surely in the next.
[1.] It may be here, partly by disappointment when those honours
and pleasures and riches which they sought after prove an occasion of
much misery to them, and they see they had been safer if they had
stood longer. This often falleth out in the world. Many desire great
ness to their hurt. Solomon compareth them to ' Fishes taken in an
evil net, or birds caught in the snare,' Eccles. ix. 12. They play about
the bait so long, till they meet with the hook, or their height ruin them :
Job. v. 12, 13, ' He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their
hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their
own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.'
Partly by death, which bloweth away all vain conceits : Jer. xvii. 11,
' As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not ; so he that
getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his
days, and at his end shall be a fool ; ' and Job xxvii. 8, ' What is the
hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away
his soul ? ' and 1 John ii. 17, ' The world passeth away, and the lust
thereof ; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.' Oh, that
men were so careful to seek and serve God and save their souls as they
are to provide for their bodies and satisfy their lusts ! Usually when
men are going out of the world, they complain how the world hath
deceived them. It had been better if they had lived in a strict
obedience.
[2.] In the world to come. The errors of men's choice are not well
seen in this life, but afterwards all will be manifested. What will
they think of their foolish and vain course when they are cast into
hell ? They have enough then indeed of sin, when their worldly por
tion is taken from them, and the heavenly blessedness denied to them :
for no man shall have more than he sought after whilst he was alive.
The conscience of his foolish choice will be a part of his torment, and
who can express the other sorrows of the damned, when they are de
livered over to the worm that dieth not, and the fire that shall never
be quenched ? In the parable of the rich man, Luke xvi. 23, 24, you
have some account of it : ' In hell he lift up his eyes, being in tor
ments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom ; and
he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my
tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.' It is not wine that he
calleth for then, but a drop of cold water ; not in a vessel, or in the
hollow of his hand, but on the tip of his finger only ; not to quench his
thirst, but cool his tongue ; and that he could not get. No ; the
gulf was fixed, though that drop would soon have dried up. These
passages are parabolical ; but thus our Lord saw fit to represent their
endless, easeless estate.
2. Why? this is not the fulness they sought after, or promised to
themselves. They dreamed of nothing but impunity and happiness,
and to be feasted with carnal satisfactions. I answer — God doth not
consider what they desired, but what they deserved. They brought
this upon themselves by their own way : Hosea iv. 9, ' I will punish
472 SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIY. 14.
them for their ways, and reward their doings ; ' and justly ; for (I )
As they regarded not his will in choosing their way, so God will not
ask their consent in returning a meet recompense or reward of their
doings. (2.) It is equal that he who had so soon his fill of goodness
and was weary of well-doing, should at length have his fill of wicked
ness. (3.) They thought they could never have enough of sin in the
practice, therefore now they shall have enough in the punishment,
(4.) For a great while they enjoyed themselves with comfort and
success, to the dishonour of God and the scandal of the godly • now
they have their deserved punishment. Though they escaped 'long
they shall not escape always. This merry world will not always last '
the longer God's patience is abused the greater wrath is then prepared
and treasured up for them.
Secondly, For the good man, he shall find at length that which will
satisfy him Now I shall show you— (1.) What is his satisfaction : (2 )
When he shall have it.
1. What is his satisfaction ? He shall be satisfied from himself It
beareth two senses— (1.) That it is his own works which God will
abundantly and graciously reward ; of which in the next point (2 )
Or else it is meant of the comforts which he feeleth within himself
It is not by way of exclusion of God, but of the carnal happiness which
the backslider fancieth. His happiness is most within himself inde
pendent from the world, but not from God. He valueth his good and
evil, not by things external, but, internal. As, for instance, the con
science of his integrity : 2 Cor. i. 12, ' Our rejoicing is this, the testi
mony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity &c we
have had our conversation in the world.' The sense of God's love -
Rom. v. 5, 'The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
jrhost, which is given to us.' The hopes of glory : Heb. x. 34, ' Knowing
in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and more enduring sul>
stance ?^ Yea, the glory that he expecteth will be ' revealed in him '
Kom. viii. 18 He hath a spring of comfort within his breast, for God
is there and Christ is there by the Spirit, and will be more there here
after. Now these inward things satisfy him in the destitution and
want of outward ^ he hath a suniciency within himself in whatever
necessities. 'AvrdPx^ j aperrj was a maxim among the wisest
heathens, that virtue is sufficient to itself ; and the apostle tells us 1
lim. vi. 6, 'Godliness with contentment is great gain.' Certainly a
good man, whatever he wants, he wants not contentment in God
2. When he shall have it-(l.) Here the godly have the beginnings
of their satisfaction : 2 Cor. v. 1, ' We know that if our earthly hou?e
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' (2.) Hereafter the
completion and full fruition of it. Blessed be God who giveth us our
hard things m this short life, and keepeth our portion till eternal
lite, where there shall be nothing but peace and endless ioy We
have much now the first-fruits of the Spirit. We have not Canaan in
the wilderness, but. we have the clusters of Canaan; much in present
possession, more m expectation and reversion : Ps xvi 11 'In thy
presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for ever
more. In heaven we shall desire no more than we have : Ps. xvii.
SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14. 473
15, ' As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall be
satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.' Therefore, when God will
graciously recompense our goodness, it is enough ; we shall have a full
sufficiency in the reward.
V. That, rightly understood, every one is filled from himself. Ihe
backslider is filled with his own ways, and the godly person hath his
own choice, therefore he is satisfied from himself. Not that his choice
or course merited it, but God accepteth it. Certainly the wicked hath
none to blame but himself, and therefore he is said ' to reward evil to
himself,' Isa. iii. 9 ; that is, by their sins they hurt not God, but wrong
themselves, or bring evil unto themselves. As to the godly, he must
look to his qualifications. God, that made him without himself, will
not save him without himself; therefore he must look to his choice and
course. You have your choice, whether you will take your own ways
or God's counsel. You do not purchase or merit your reward, but you
must qualify yourselves to receive it. It is left upon your choice. It
is not always true in carnals, choose and have, but sometimes it is.
You may have the trifles of the world in your own ways, but you can
not have God and heaven without accepting God's counsel, without a
resolved choice and serious prosecution ; there it is choose and have.
You must part with your sin and fleshly pleasure, and resolve upon an
holy and godly course of life. The world flattereth you to your de
struction, but God calleth you to salvation ; as you choose, so shall you
have. If you refuse Christ, and follow your own ways, you will have
enough of it in time ; if you obey God, and resolve to seek after him,,
you shall be satisfied. Therefore your eternal woe or weal Heth much
in your own hands. If you forsake your own mercies for lying vanities,
whom have you to blame but yourselves ? Jonah ii. 8, ' They that
observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy/ But though God
incline you to choose, and that work must be ascribed to him, yet it is
you must choose, and pursue after the true happiness, and God will
graciously accept you. God gives you the wit and the will to make a
right choice, but you must choose. Something you must do if you
would be happy. " There is no condition of merit, but order. It is
God that reclaimeth you from your sensual inclinations, yet God will
not have you without your consent, or against your will, nor give you
heaven without a diligent pursuit after it.
Use 1. Consider who is the backslider ; one involved in the apostasy
of Adam, one that seeketh to be filled with his own ways. The
beginning and progress and end of his course is from himself, and in
himself, and to himself again ; that is, carnal self. He acteth only as
his fleshly inclination moveth him. Carnal self is the principle, rule,
and end, and God is wholly neglected, neither sought after nor pleased,
nor his counsel regarded, nor his grace valued, though he sent Christ
to recover us from the world and the flesh to himself. Neither is God
minded as the chiefest good or last end ; nor regarded as our director
and counsellor ; nor chosen as our portion, that we may come to him
by Christ ; nor his grace sought after, that we may be quickened and
inclined to seek after him.
2. Consider what a blessed thing it is to be filled with our ways in
gracious sense, while we are capable to mend our errors: 1 Peter
SERMON UPON PROVERBS XIV. 14.
God and destroying
g,ou.d set about the
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
SEKMON L
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
JOHN i. 29.
THE words are spoken upon occasion of John's meeting with Christ.
Before his temptations in the desert Christ had honoured John s
baptism ; after his return from the desert he cometh to honour his
ministry. Christ himself was one of John's auditors." It fell out
happily by the divine providence, that so John might give him a
solemn testimony before the people, ' Behold the Lamb of tfod, &c.
In the words we have — . , ,,
1. A note of demonstration or ostension, as pointing at him with the
finger, ' Behold.' . . , ,,
2. The person demonstrated, set forth here under the notion o:
Lamb of God/ . TXTU-^U
3. His work and office, from whence the title is given him, WhicJ
taketh away the sin of the world.'
The text is full of matter ; every word and title is emphatical.
Two doctrines I shall observe from the words— (1.) That Jesus
Christ was the true Lamb of God ; (2.) The great work of Christ the
Lamb of God is to take away the sin of the world.
DocL 1. That Jesus Christ was the true Lamb of God.
1. I shall show that Christ was the true Lamb of God.
2. How we are to behold him.
I That Christ is the true Lamb of God. He may be called so
either with allusion to the common lamb, or else to the holy lamb,
which, Suucpirucfa, is here called ' the lamb of God,' the lamb appointed
by him for sacrifice, or else to the paschal lamb.
First There are many fit resemblances between him and the
common lamb. I shall instance only in three— (1.) Innocency ; (2.)
Liableness to injuries ; and (3.) Meekness and patience.
1 For innocency. Of all creatures the lamb is the most harmless,
the 'true emblem of innocency. So was Christ without wrong and
without guile : Isa. liii. 9, ' He hath done no violence, neither was
any deceit in his mouth.' All wrong and harm is there reduced to two
heads—violence and deceit; the one the fruit of wicked cunning the
other the fruit of abused power ; both are far removed from Ohrist, ft
he was holy and harmless.
2. So for liableness to injuries. Sheep are not ravenous creatures,
476
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
but easily exposed to the prey of others, and can use no forcible
to defend themselves : Mat. x. 16, ' Behold, I send you forth as eep
in the midst of wolves/ So was Christ himself, that in him m ght be
exemplified the spirit and genius of that religion which he would
establish. Ever since there hath been sin in the world, man hath been
grasping at power, to use it, not in acts of mercy, but violence but
the great God who hath all power in his hands, would comeTnto the
world as a lamb to the slaughter, and redeem the world that was lost
not by grasping at power and greatness, but by meekness and suE
ings ; and so establish a kingdom of patience, not of power
-A F°Tr meekness and patience. For patience in his death he was a
SSjji ISf'J-1U- 7' 'Ht™, °PPressed> an(* he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth : he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and
as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth '
Swine will howl and whine when they are touched, but sheep are
dumb before the shearers. Christ did not open his mouth unless \t
were to instruct and bless, and pray for those that crucified him, but
went patient y tc > the cross. It was anciently observed among the
heathens, that if the beast struggled, or did run away from the altar
that it was counted an unlucky sacrifice. If we should go by this rule
m judging concerning the success of our sin-offering, his carriage at
his death promiseth an happy issue ; for 'He was brought as a famb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearers if dumb so he
opened not his mouth/ He died not as the beasts in ^temple!
against their will ; if he complained of the bitter cup, it was to sh™
that he was not without sense, not that he was without patience
Secondly, The sacrifice lamb, therefore called 'the lamb of God '
Al lambs were God's creatures, and therefore might be called his'-
as s tea±bfaPP,rted f0£ T-rlfiCe WaS G°d>S in? peculiar manner;
as set apart for this use by his special appointment. And yet that
lamb was not God's so much as Christ is ; for there man had his choice
and was to interpose his judgment what lamb he would single out of
the flock ; and ^therefore the sacrifices and offerings were called theirs
who presented them, not God's who appointed them ; but Christ was
both appointed by God : 1 Peter i. 20, ' Who verily was fore-ordained
before the foundation of the world ; ' and offered by God : ' Heb Yx
14 Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
and accepted by God, in token whereof he hath set him forth
the gospel as a propitiation for sin : Eom. iii. 25, ' Whom God hath
fc forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood/ And in the
text he is said to be o ^w> not a lamb, but the Iamb, that lamb of
God ; which is said partly by way of dignity and distinction, to put a
difference between him and the typical lamb ; and partly by wav of
ostension and demonstration, that lamb figured in the sacrifices, and
spoken of by the prophets; this is he, 'the Lamb of God' indeed
Now lambs were often used in sacrifices. In the purification of women :
Lev. xii 6, She shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt-offerino- '
In the cleansing of the leper : Lev. xiv. 10, ' On the eighth day he shall
K^M^IM'Si £lemi1Sh' "^ °ne 6We-lamb Without
blemish both which figured the cleansing of our defiled natures by
ist, and the doing away the defilement and leprosy of sin. But the
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 477
most frequent and constant use of the lamb was in the daily sacrifice :
Exod. xxix. 38, 39, ' Now this is that thou shalt offer upon the altar,
two lambs of the first year, day by day continually ; the one lamb thou
shalt offer in the morning, and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even ;
which was to be done with meal and wine, the two great supports of
the natural life ; all which figured Christ. God is every day pleased
and propitiated for our sins, and by virtue of his daily mediation we
and all our actions are accepted of the Lord. The Lord Jesus is our
daily lamb, which must be represented to God's justice, as the only
means of our atonement, every morning and every evening. We need
it as much as they, and are more obliged than they, because all is clear
and open to us. Now upon the sabbath-day this offering was double :
Num. xxviii. 9, 10, ' And on the sabbath-day two lambs of the first
year without spot, and two tenth-deals of flour for a meat-offering
mingled with oil, and the drink-offering thereof. This is the burnt-
offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt-offering, and his
drink-offering.' Then God requireth a more solemn remembrance of
Christ, our lamb slain for us.
Thirdly, But the most solemn figure and type of Christ was the
paschal lamb, and most frequently interpreted of him in the new
testament : 1 Cor. v. 7, ' Christ our passover is sacrificed for us ; ' and
John xix. 36, ' A bone of him shall not be broken.' This was originally
spoken of the paschal lamb : Exod. xii. 46, ' Neither shall ye break a
bone thereof.' Now the evangelist bringeth this as a prophecy ; this
which was ordained concerning the paschal lamb is said to be fulfilled
in Christ ; it is brought as a reason why the divine providence per
mitted not his legs to be broken. This is the type to which John here
alludeth, and saith, ' Behold the Lamb of God.' Therefore here my
work must be fixed, to state the resemblance between the paschal lamb
and Jesus Christ. Certainly the use of that ordinance was typical, as
well as historical ; it was ordained not only as a memorial of their
redemption from Egypt, but as a figure of our redemption by Christ.
To the first use it is supposed David hath respect when he said, Ps.
cxi. 4, 5, ' He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. The
Lord is gracious, and full of compassion. He hath given meat to them
that fear him ; he will ever be mindful of his covenant.' The meat
there mentioned is supposed to respect the paschal lamb, when they
were to remember the works of God. But the chief use was to type
out 'Christ, who hath so taken away sin that he hath freed us from
eternal death. He was the truth and substance of that type, and the
true passover sacrificed for us, in whose person, and in whose sufferings
and benefits, all that is really to be found which is pointed out and
typified by that shadow.
That this may more clearly appear to you, I shall show you that the
paschal lamb figured— (1.) The person of Christ; (2.) His death on
the cross ; (3.) The fruits of his death ; (4.) The manner how we are
made partakers of them.
1. The paschal lamb figured the person of Christ. The prophets
and apostles do often set forth the person of Christ under the notion of
a lamb. Isaiah calleth him a lamb : Isa. liii. 7, ' He is brought as a
lamb to the slaughter.' And Philip, instructing the eunuch, applieth
478 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
that prophecy to Christ, Acts viii. 35. And among the apostles, Peter
telleth you that we are redeemed ' with the precious blood of Christ as
of a lamb without spot and blemish/ 1 Peter i. 19. And John the
evangelist calleth him often ' The Lamb that was slain/ Rev v 6 9
-w Tv° .1 BaPtlst> who ^^ fibula legis et evangelii, in the
middle between the prophets and apostles, calleth him ' The Lamb of
trod in the text ; and ver. 36, • Behold the Lamb of God/ And fitly
Christ was a lamb in regard of his meekness, patience, and humble
innocence. For his meekness he was a lamb,, for he saith, ' Learn of
me, for I am meek and lowly in heart/ Mat. xi. 29; and for his
innocency, for there was no guile found in his mouth/ 1 Peter ii 22
?™T? £ bis patience; for 'as a lamb before the shearers U
umb i so he opened not his mouth/ Acts viii. 32; 'He did not cry
?wi T D°ir CaUSG hi M V°ice to be heard in the streets/ Isa. xlii. 2 ;
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously/
Peter n. 23. Not that he wanted strength and power, ' for all power
was given him both in heaven and earth ; ' and if he would have made
use of them, he had more than twelve legions of angels at his com
mand : Mat. xxvi. 53 'Thinkest thou not that I cannot now prayl
my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of
angels ? one of which was able enough easily to dissipate and destroy
al his enemies. But 'he came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life a ransom for many/ Mat. xx 28 • and
therefore he humbled himself, being made ' obedient to death, even the
death of the cross/ Phil. li. 8. Thus the lion of the tribe of Judah, by
a strange metamorphosis, of a lion was made a lamb, that out of the
ar might come^ forth meat, and out of the strong might come forth
sweetness ; for this lamb feedeth us with his flesh, and giveth us to
drink of bis blood : John vi. 55, ' My flesh is meat indeed and my
i is drink indeed/ No dish so savoury as that to an hungry con
science, no draught so comfortable to a thirsty soul And besides this
he clotheth us with the fleece of his own righteousness, and therefore
we are said to put on Christ: Gal. iii. 29, 'As many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ;' and Rom xiii 14 'Put
£v°ni ' £ fe ^6SUS C?rist/ And to receive white garments frorn him,
by which the shame of our nakedness may be covered: Rev iii 18 'I
counse thee to buy of me white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed/
I remember it is said, Gen. iii. 21, that ' God clothed Adam and Eve
£tC?£ ^ f ;^m(? pr°bably of the skins of the sacrifices, for
they did no eat flesh ; and so it would fitly imply the Redeemer's
righteousness to clothe our nakedness :
,j 1V, ' Nudatus tegmine vitae
is ut tegeretur homo suspenditur Agnus.'— TERTUL.
J ^T* mT f? Pr6rly make g°od the resemb^nce between
and the paschal lamb.
- .TJ16 ]amb was taken from among the rest of the flock : Exod.
xn. b Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats/ So
f°m hlS brethrfn.: ?eut- ^iii. 15, 'I will raise them up a
from among their brethren/ The paschal lamb was a lamb
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 479
as other lambs ; so Christ had the same common nature with other
believers ; he was a man as we are : ' Forasmuch then as the children
were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of the same,'
Heb. ii. 14 ; and ' in all things it behoved him to be made like unto
his brethren,' ver. 17 ; sin only excepted : Heb. iv. 15, ' He was in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.'
[2.] The lamb chosen was to be without blemish ; so was Christ ' a
lamb without spot and blemish,' 1 Peter i. 19 ; that is, free from sin, for
sins are the spots and blemishes of the soul ; from these Christ was free :
' Which of you conviriceth me of sin ? ' John viii. 46. Pilate, that con
demned him, pronounced him innocent, and professed before the Jews
that ' he found no fault in him/ Luke xxiii. 14 ; Heb. vii. 26, 27, 'For such
an high priest became us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separated
from sinners ; who needed not daily, as those high priests, to offer up
sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the people's ; ' for then
how could he satisfy for us who had sins of his own to expiate ? And
then the Jews would not without reason have objected to him : Mark
xxvii. 42, 'He saveth others, himself he cannot save.' No; John
joineth these two as inseparable : 1 John iii. 5, ' And we know that he
was manifested to take away our sins ; and in him is no sin/
[3.] This lamb also was to be a male ; as also Christ, that he might
be the Son of God, and king, and priest, and prophet to the church.
Therefore Luke ii. 23, that law is applied to Christ, that c every male
that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord/
[4.] The lamb was to be a year old, of competent age_; as Christ
also was to have some experience of human life before he died, that he
might be acquainted with our griefs and sorrows, and tried in all
points like us ; but in his flower, when he had most reason to love his
life, then he laid it down for his people's sake.
[5.] The lamb, being separated, was to be kept four days, from the
tenth day of the first month till the fourteenth of the same, Exod. xii.
6 ; which was a rite which had not only a moral use, but a mystical
signification. A moral use : Fagius saith he was ad cubitia oUigatus,
tied to their bedposts, that, hearing the bleatings of the lamb, they
might remember the sorrows of Egypt, and be the more thankful for
their redemption. And it had a mystical use, for it signifieth the time
between Christ's consecration at his baptism and his death, after three
years and a half spent in his ministry ; as also Christ's entrance into
Jerusalem on the tenth day of the same month by the sheep -gate,
which was the gate by which the sheep and lambs were led to be sacri
ficed in the temple, John xii. 1, 12.
2. His death on the cross was figured by the paschal lamb, for this
lamb was to be slain, as the Messiah was to be cut off by a violent death :
Dan. ix. 26, ' And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut
off, but not for himself/ The lamb was to be slain at the middle of
the month Nisan, at the full moon, between the two evenings. Christ's
death was just at the same time, when they were killing the paschal
lamb ; for the paschal lamb was to be killed between the two evenings ;
that is, as Josephus iuterpreteth it, airo eiWr??? &pas peKpi ev&eKdrrjs,
from the ninth hour unto the eleventh, that is, between three and five
o'clock in our account ; and about that time Christ died : Mat.
xxvii. 45, 46, ' Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all
480 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
the land till the ninth hour : and about the ninth hour Jesus cried
with a loud voice ; ' and ver. 50, ' Jesus, when he had cried again
with a loud voice, gave up the ghost.' And the place was the same ;
for ever since David's time the paschal lambs were killed at Jerusalem
in the porch of the temple, where Christ also suffered. And it is said,
Exod. xii. 6, that ' the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel
shall kill it , in the evening ; ' which was in a manner fulfilled in
Christ, against whom the scribes and pharisees, and all the people
conspired : and therefore, when Pilate would have released him, 'they
all said unto him, Let him be crucified,' Mat. xxvii. 22 ; and Luke
xxiii. 18, ' They cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man,
and release unto us Barabbas ; ' TrapjrK'rjdel, all the multitude to
gether. And the kind of the death agreeth ; for as the lamb's blood
was shed, so was Christ's for the people of God. The blood of the
paschal lamb was not spilt on the ground, but carried away in basins,
Exod. xii. 22, because it signified the precious blood of the Son of God,
as of a lamb without spot and blemish. God would not have it spilt
upon the ground ; that blood is the true treasure of the church, which
the Son of God still representeth unto the Father on our behalf.
Again, the roasting of the lamb ; the lamb was not to be eaten raw,
nor sodden, nor baked, nor boiled, but roasted by fire. The fire repre
sents the wrath of God : Mai. iv. 1, ' Behold the day cometh that
shall burn as an oven ; ' and Heb. xii. 29, ' Our God is a consuming
fire.' In this fire it behoved the Lamb of God to be roasted, when he
offered himself a surety for sinners, and was substituted into their
room and place. This was that which made him sweat drops of blood,
and for this cause did he complain, Ps. xxii. 14, 15, ' My heart is .like
wax ; it is melted in the midst of my bowels : my strength is dried
up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.' And their
manner of roasting it is very notable, which was (as Maimonides tell-
eth us) not by a spit of iron turned round about, as we do, but by
hanging the flesh on a broach of wood in the midst of the fire, which
had some shadow of Christ's crucifixion ; especially if that be true
which Justin Martyn in his dialogue with Tryphon the Jew telleth
him, that their broach was fashioned to the shape of a cross, a trans
verse piece of wood thrust through the shoulders of the lamb. And
why should we not believe this holy man, who was well acquainted
with the Jewish affairs, being born at Sychem ? Besides the notable
providence of God that Christ's legs should not be broken.
3. The fruits and benefits of this sacrifice.
[1.] By the sprinkling the blood of the lamb, he that destroyed
the first-born of the Egyptians could not touch them, Heb. xi. 28. This
secured them against the destroying angel; to teach us that the
justice of God doth only spare them whose consciences are sprinkled
with the blood of Christ. The blood of the lamb and the blood
of Christ was shed for this end, that it might be sprinkled, and
being sprinkled, might exempt, and free us from death. So the
apostle St Peter speaketh of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus,
by which the elect are sanctified and saved: 1 Peter i. 2, 'Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctifica-
tion of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 481
Christ.' There was not only blood shed, but blood sprinkled; so
Heb. xii. 24, ' And to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better
things than the blood of Abel.' God said of the blood of the paschal
lamb, Exod. xii. 23, ' For the Lord will pass through to smite the
Egyptians ; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the
two side-posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer
the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you/ So when wrath
maketh inquisition for sinners, God beholding his Son's blood, where
with the elect are sprinkled, they are exempted from the curse wherein
others have entangled and involved themselves ; for saith the apostle
Paul, Horn. v. 9, ' Being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through him.' So that we need not fear the sword of the
destroying angel, whether he be an angel of darkness or an evil angel,
for God hath ' delivered us from the power of darkness' by the blood
of his Son, Col. i. 13, or an heavenly angel. By the same blood he
hath ' reconciled all things, unto himself both in heaven and in earth,'
Col. i. 20. Those angels which were heretofore set as a guard upon
the earthly paradise, with a flaming sword, to keep us out from thence,
do carry us into the heavenly paradise : Luke xvi. 22, ' The beggar
died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom ;' and are
ministering spirits sent forth for the heirs of promise, not to destroy
them, but to keep them and preserve them : Heb. i. 14, ' Are they not
all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation ? '
[2.] In that very night in which the paschal lamb was slam, the
Israelites obtained their freedom and deliverance out of Egypt. So
hath Christ by his blood freed us from the slavery of sin, the devil,
and the world, and called us into the glorious liberty of the children
of God: 1 Cor. vii. 23, 'Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the
servants of men.' So Heb. ii. 15, 'That he might deliver them^who,
through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage ; ' and
John viii. 36, ' If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye ^shall be
free indeed.' We are redeemed unto God as they went into the
wilderness to worship God.
[3.] In that very night God exercised judgments on the gods of the
Egyptians. So it is said, Exod. xii. 12, 'Against all the gods of the
Egyptians will I exercise judgment ; ' and it is repeated, Num. xxxiii.
4, ' For the Egyptians buried all their first-born, which the Lord had
smitten among them ; upon their gods also the Lord executed judg
ments.' Some say by slaying the beasts which the Egyptians wor
shipped, as the ox. Jonathan in his paraphrase saith that all their
idols of metal melted, and their idols of stone and earth were broken
in pieces, and their idols of wood were burned to ashes. Whether this
or that we cannot tell, because the scripture is silent ; but surely these
threatenings were not in vain, and wanted not their certain effect.
Certain we are that by the blood of Christ the devil's kingdom goeth
down : John xii. 31, 32, ' Now shall the prince of this world be cast
out ; and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me.' As Christ's kingdom goeth up, ' The idols are thrown to the
moles and to the bats,' Isa. ii. 20 ; and God will ' famish all the gods
of the earth,' Zeph. ii. 11 ; and in the 1 Peter i. 18, 19, ' Ye were not
VOL. XVIII. 2 H
482 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversations, received by tradition from your fathers ; but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot.' The blood of Christ fetcheth over men from their inveterate
customs and superstitions. And Kev. xii. 11, ' They overcame by the
blood of the Lamb ; ' and 1 John iii. 8, ' For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.'
How shall we be partakers of those good things which come to us
from the Lamb of God. Two things were required of these Israelites —
that they should sprinkle the blood of this lamb upon the lintel and
the two side-posts, and than eat his flesh in an holy and religious
manner ; and if any of the Israelites had neglected either of these, he
had refused the grace annexed to this ordinance, and so lost the benefit
of it. So if we neglect the means by which Christ is to be applied, we
lose our benefit by him.
(1.) They were to sprinkle the lintel and -the two side-posts of their
doors. At another time God gave them direction to write his law on
the door-posts : Deut. xi. 20, ' Thou shalt write them upon the door
posts of thy house, and upon thy gates ; ' which I mention that we
may the better understand what is meant by them. By these door
posts are meant our hearts, for these God eprinkleth with the blood of
his Son : Heb. x. 22, ' Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con
science.' And upon these hearts of ours doth he write his laws : Jer.
xxxi. 32, ' I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts ; ' for the hearts of men are as open to God as the doors of our
houses are to ourselves. Now our hearts are sprinkled with the blood
of Christ when we firmly believe that God is propitiated by the blood
of Christ, and will spare all those who in a broken-hearted manner sue
out their pardon in Christ's name, unfeignedly devoting themselves to
God. Oh, then, let every one of us get out hearts sprinkled with the
blood of Christ, and apply it to our consciences, and say, with the
apostle, 1 Tim. i. 15, ' Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief;' and again, Gal. vi. 14, 'God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world ; ' and again, 2 Cor.
v. 14, 15, ' The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge,
that if one died for all, then were all dead ; and that he died for all,
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto him which died for them.' These are true workings of heart ; only
remember, the same place that is sprinkled with the blood of Christ,
on the same place must the law be written, that we may love God, and
keep his law, and entirely give up ourselves to do his will, and be sub
ject to him. And remember also, that it is the lintel and side-posts
that must be sprinkled, and the law was written upon the door-posts,
not inscribed upon the threshold. There are some which tread the
blood of the covenant underfoot : Heb. x. 29, ' Of how much sorer
punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith
he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace ? ' These are swine and dogs, before whom we must
not 'cast holy things, lest they tread them under feet,' Mat. vii. 6. These
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. . 483
prefer their carnal satisfaction before the fruits of Christ's death, and
sell their birthright for a mess of pottage.
(2.) By the same faith by which the blood of the Lamb of God is
sprinkled on the doors of our hearts, by the same faith is his flesh eaten.
The Lamb of God was given, not only as a ransom to divine justice,
but as food for our souls. The eating of the sacrifice noteth the
manner of our fruition of Christ, for eating implieth an intimate union.
Those things which are eaten are turned into our substance, and
become one with us : John vi. 53, ' Verily, verily, I say unto you, un
less ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no
life in you.' Christ is as truly meat as the paschal lamb was, but
meat, not for the body, but the soul ; and therefore he is eaten not
with the mouth of the body, which receiveth bodily food, but the mouth
of the soul, which is faith. The appetite is spiritual, so is the food ; it
is a spiritual hunger and a spiritual thirst that must be satisfied.
Now a corporeal thing beareth no proportion with it ; there is no satis
fying this hunger nor quenching this thirst but by coming to Christ,
that is, believing in him ; for it is said, John vi. 35, ' I am the bread
of life ; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst.' In that manner we receive Christ in that
manner he dwelleth in us. Now he dwelleth in us by faith : Eph. iii.
17, ' That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.' Christ dwelleth
in us, not by his infinite presence as God, so he is everywhere ; nor by
his corporeal presence as man, so the heavens must contain him; but by
his gracious presence, and special influence as our head, whereby he
quickeneth us ; therefore we are to receive him by faith, and not by the
mouth and stomach, and give him a hearty welcome into our souls.
The Israelites in the wilderness ' did all eat the same spiritual meat,
and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiri
tual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ,' 1 Cor. x. 3, 4.
As they did eat Christ and drink Christ before ever his body was formed
in the Virgin's womb, so do we now he is ascended into heaven. The
passover lamb was not to be eaten raw or half-roasted, but thoroughly
roasted ; so is the Lamb of God ; he is not digested, and turned into
strength and nourishment by a few crude, cold, cursory, and careless
thoughts" ; but this mystery must be much concocted by deep, serious,
pressing, and ponderous meditation ; for meditation is that to the mind
which concoction and digestion is to the stomach. An unattentive mind
gets no warmth, no strength, no comfort from the Lamb of God. In
short, we must so mind these things as to choose 'them, and so choose
them as to be determined and governed by our choice in our whole
course. The lamb was to be eaten whole ; there was nothing to be left
of him : Exod. xii. 10, ' And ye shall let nothing of it remain until
the morning ; ' to show that Christ must not be divided, not nature
from nature, nor office from office, nor benefit from benefit ; this is to
eat part of Christ and leave the rest. If we would have his glory, we
must be partakers of his sufferings, and take up his cross ; if we will
have him for our redeemer and saviour, we must own him for our
Lord and lawgiver ; if we would be feasted with privileges, we must
not neglect duties ; his Spirit must renew us, as well as his merit
justify us. The paschal lamb was to be eaten with bitter herbs ; it is
484 SERMONS UPON JOHN L 29.
our misery giveth Christ a relish. God casts us into sufferings, or puts
us under a cloud, that we may not be gospel-glutted, or cloyed with
doctrines of grace. He must be eaten with unleavened bread, simple
plain bread without mixture: 1 Cor. v. 7, 8, 'Purge out therefore the
old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened ; for even
Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast,
not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.' Christ, in whose
mouth there is no guile, cannot endure hypocrisy. At first they were
to eat the passover with their loins girt, their staff in their hands, and
shoes on their feet. So Luke xii. 35, ' Let your loins be girded about,
and your lights burning ; ' 1 Peter i. 13, ' Wherefore gird up the loins
of your minds ; ' Eph. vi. 14, 15, ' Stand therefore having your loins
girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness,
and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.' We
are strangers here, and must put on for heaven, and be ready for a
remove for the heavenly journey.
II. How we are to behold him, or how he is to be considered by us.
This ecce, behold, doth not only point at Christ as personally and
corporally present as an object of the senses, but doth excite their mind
and faith to get a spiritual sight of him, to behold him in the quality
of his office. He is not personally present with us, as he was when
these words were said, yet that doth not hinder the sight of faith.
Whenever we are conversant about these holy mysteries, it may be said
to us, ' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the
world/
1. Behold him with seriousness and reverence. This mystery must
not be passed over with a few hasty and running thoughts. It is per/a
fjLvcmjpiov, the greatest wonder that ever was in the world, that God
should die, and for such forlorn creatures. How should we be swal
lowed up of admiration whenever we think of it ! When this Lamb of
God was killing, the creatures were all in amazement, the earth
trembled, the rocks rent, the sun was eclipsed. Oh, how great is the
stupidity and dulness of our hearts, that we can no more seriously think
of it 1 Heb. iii. 1, ' Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Jesus
Christ.' Serious meditation is like the concoction of meat in the stomach.
2. Behold him with application: Job v. 27, 'Hear it, and know
thou it for thy good ; ' Horn. viii. 31, ' What shall we then say to these
things ? ' Excite thine own heart : Surely this was for my sins, if I
have an heart to receive Christ, and make use of him for this end and
purpose : Gal. ii. 20, ' Who loved me, and gave himself for me ; ' and
1 Peter i. 20, ' Who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of
the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.'
3. Behold him with an eye of faith : Isa. xlv. 22, ' Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth ; ' Heb. xii. 2, ' Looking unto
Jesus ; ' Zech. xii. 10, ' They shall look upon me whom they have
pierced.' Faith gets such a clear sight of things, as if we had been by
when he suffered and paid this ransom.
4. Behold him with an eye of repentance, and brokenness of heart :
Zech. xii. 10, ' They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 485
shall mourn for him as one that mourneth for his only son ; and shall
be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.'
It was thy sins that pierced him, therefore behold him and mourn.
5. Behold him with an eye of thankfulness, as the great instance of
God's love, who would by so costly a remedy procure our pardon and
happiness : 1 John iv. 9, 10, ' In this was manifested the love of God
towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him. Herein is love ; not that we loved God,
but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins.'
6. Behold your suffering and crucified Saviour with an eye of love, so
as to love him the more. eO epws C/JLOV la-ravpwT/j,, my love is crucified.
Ignatius : Quo vttior, eo charior. The more vile and humble he was,
the more dear he should be to you. Let it persuade us to a real love,
to allow him a dominion and lordship in our hearts ; that is real love,
to obey God : Kom. v. 8, ' God commended his love towards us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' This love must beget
love.
Use 1. To press you to behold the Lamb of God ; behold him as a
sacrifice for sin, whose blood applied doth quiet the conscience and turn
away the curse. These words present the more glorious spectacle and
object, not to your sight, but to your faith ; not to your senses, but to
your most serious and intimate consideration. The object is Christ
crucified, the only true propitiatory sacrifice for sin, the chief point of
Christian knowledge, and the most powerful means of the creature's good.
Oh, behold him ! look not at bread and wine in the Lord's supper, but
at the Lamb of God.
Use 2. To press you to take and eat Christ, and receive him out of
God's hands by faith. He is the Lamb of God. God designed him for
this work, when man had no way to help himself : 1 Peter i. 20, ' Who
verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world.' God
tendereth him to you ; now take and eat. God, the party offended, hath
authorised Christ to be a mediator ; say, then, Lord, thou hast appointed
thy Son, and sent him into the world to be a ransom for our souls : he
is now offered to me ; Lord, I come to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
We must eat him so as to feel the virtue of both, changing our hearts,
and comforting our consciences. Changing our hearts ; other food is
changed into our substance, this changeth us : 2 Cor. v. 17, ' He that is
in Christ is a new creature.' Comforting our consciences : Heb. ix. 14,
' How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God ? ' Is God unwilling to give Christ ?
or is Christ unable to do his work ?
486 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
SERMON IT.
Beliold the Lamb of God, which tdketh away the sin of the ivorld.
JOHN i. 29.
DOCT. 2. The great work of Christ, the Lamb of God, is to take away the
sins of the world.
1. What is meant by 'the world.'
2. In what manner Christ taketh away the sins of the world.
3. That this is the great end, work, and scope of Christ's coming
into the world.
1. What is meant by ' the world ' ? Why is there such a capacious
and comprehensive word used, since it is clear that all the world have
not benefit by Christ, for many of them die in their sins ?
Ans. 1. To show the difference between the Lamb of God and the
sacrifices of the law. The old sacrifices were only offered for the
people of Israel, but Christ's death hath a larger extent, to people of all
places, Jews and gentiles : 1 John ii. 2, ' And he is the propitiation for
our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.'
And in all ages, from the beginning of the world to the end : Eev. xiii.
8, 'He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.' The
Lamb of God is of an universal and perpetual use.
2. To show the sufficiency of this mediatorial sacrifice, it is of such
a full and overflowing merit that it becometh a foundation for a tender
of grace to every creature. Here is a groundwork and foundation laid
for the truth of this proposition : Mark xvi. 16, that ' whosoever
believeth shall be saved.' So that here is a great invitation and
encouragement for every oppressed soul; if Christ taketh away the
sins of the world, put in for a share ; thou art a member of the world.
Paul creepeth in at the back-door of the promise: 1 Tim. i. 15,
'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
chief.' Christ would not have sinners exclude themselves, but attend
upon him for this benefit. Therefore he would have his grace set
forth in the most comprehensive terms, that all that find themselves
shiners may stir up themselves to find benefit by him.
3. Those elect ones, who have actual benefit by this sacrifice, may
be called ' the world ; ' partly because of their number ; take them
altogether, and they are many, and therefore called ' world ; ' Eev.
vii. 9, ' I beheld a great multitude, which no man could number,' &c. ;
and partly in regard of God's estimation ; though they are few,
they are as good as all the world to him ; and partly because they will
one day be set apart from the rest of mankind, and make a peculiar
world of themselves.
II. In what manner doth Christ take away the sins of the world ?
I shall give my answer in these propositions —
1. The whole world in its natural estate lieth under sin and wrath.
The scripture in one place telleth us, 1 John v. 19, ' The whole world
lieth in wickedness ; ' and in another, that ' all the world is become
guilty before God,' Eom. iii. 19. Both together speak this much, that
the sin and misery of the world was such that it groaned for a saviour,
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 487
even as a man sick of a mortal disease, and almost at his last gasp,
hath need of a physician. In the corruption of nature all are involved :
Rom. iii. 23, ' All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ; '
and so by consequence all are under the wrath of God : Eph. ii. 3,
'We are by nature the children of wrath, even as others.' Which
abideth upon us while we remain unbelieving and impenitent : John
iii. 36, ' He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him.' And besides this, there is the dominion of
actual sin, Rom. vi. 14. All which show the miserable state of the
world, and the high need of a saviour. Sin liveth with men from the
birth to the grave ; and all are become abominable and filthy ; they
are all gone out of the way ; there is none that seeketh after God ; there
is none that doeth good, no 'not one, Ps. xiv. 1-3. They are all gone
out of the way of holiness and happiness ; they are all become vile and
loathsome to God, all guilty of a careless neglect of God, and of their
duty, and of the service they owe to him ; all are given to please the
flesh : John iii. 6, ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh.' So general
a wickedness and defection from God is there throughout the world, as
if they had cast off all fear, and care, and love of God and his service ;
though they speak honourably of him in words, yet in their deeds they
deny him, and disobey his authority, and wholly abandon themselves to
please the flesh.
2. To lie under sin, and the consequences thereof, is a burden too
heavy for us to bear, and miserable are they who have it lying upon
their own shoulders. How light soever sins may seem to be when they
are committed, yet they will not be found to be light when we come to
reckon with God for them. Sin to a waking conscience is one of the
heaviest burdens that ever was felt : Ps. xxxviii. 4, ' My iniquities are
gone over my head ; as an heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.' If
you do but taste of this cup, if a spark of God's wrath light upon the
conscience, what a weight and pressure is this upon the soul ! You
will find the little finger of sin to .be heavier than the loins of any
other sorrow. You may know it in part by what Christ suffered.
If his soul was heavy unto death, if he felt such strange agonies,
sweated drops of curdled blood, lost the actual sensible comforts of
his godhead when he bore the burden of sin, what shall any one of us
do, if he were to bear his own burden ? If this be done in the green
tree, what shall be done in the dry ? You may also know it by the
complaints of the saints, when the finger of God hath but touched
them. All life and power is gone if God should set home one sin
upon the conscience : Ps. xl. 12, ' Mine iniquities have taken hold upon
me, so that I am not able to look up ; they are more than the hairs
of my head, therefore my heart faileth me.' So Job complaineth
that the arrows of the Almighty are within him, the poison whereof
did drink up his spirits, Job vi. 4. If you will know what it is to
bear sin, ask a tender conscience or a troubled conscience. What
disquiets of soul do wicked men feel when their consciences are a little
awakened ! how uneasy do their hearts sit within them ! Prov. xxviii.
14, ' He that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.' Cain crieth
out, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear,' Gen. iv. 13. What
large offers do men then make to get rid of their burden ! ' Thousands
488 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil ; yea, their first-born for
their transgressions, the fruit of their bodies for the sin of their souls,'
Micah vi. 6, 7. Lastly, what it is to live and die in sin, the other
world will show us. Christ useth no other expression of the misery of
the unbelieving Jews but this, ' Ye shall die in your sins,' John viii.'
24. That is enough, for that speaketh all manner of horror and tor
ment. And the threatenings of the word show their case is miserable
enough: 'They fall into the hands of the living God/ Heb. x. 31.
And ' the worm ' that feedeth upon them ' shall never die ; ' and ' the
fire ' wherewith they are scorched ' shall never be quenched,' Mark ix.
44. Sins that now lie like sleepy lions then awaken, and take them
by the throat, and feed and gnaw upon them to all eternity. Miserable
questionless is the state of them who bear their own burden and their
own transgression. Now the sense of this should make a crucified
Saviour sweet to us.
3. None can take off this burden of sin but Jesus Christ ; this is a
work proper to the Lamb of God. None else could preserve the honour
of God's justice, which was necessary before we could be intrusted with
a new stock of grace : Eom. iii. 24, 25, ' Being justified freely by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ; whom God
hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins.' None else could secure
the honour of God's government ; punishments are inflicted, not only for
the reformation and correction of the offenders, but for a warning to
others., to secure the ends of government, that none may presume upon
impunity. The same is necessary in the government of the world by
God. If God should wholly release the law, all awe and sense of it
would be lost, sin would not be counted so grievous a thing ; therefore
there is a brand put upon sin by the sufferings of Christ ; the odious-
ness of it is represented in the agonies and sorrows of his cross. The
apostle saith, ' That God for sin condemned sin in the flesh,' Eom. viii.
3 ; or by a sacrifice given for sin he hath showed his hatred and dis
pleasure against it. When we look upon sin .through Satan's spec
tacles, or the cloud of our own passions or carnal affections, we make
nothing of it ; but it is a terrible spectacle to see the fruits of it in the
agonies and sufferings of Jesus Christ, which are represented to us in
the word and sacraments, as if he were crucified before our eyes. Once
more, none could bear this burden of punishment but Jesus Christ, who
was man to undertake it in our name, and also God to get through it
in his own strength. His human nature did put a price into his handa
to lay down for the ransom of our souls, and his divine nature did put
a value upon that price, and made it sufficient and responsible to all
God's ends. Therefore it is said, Ps. Ixxxix. 19, ' Then thou spakest
in vision to thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that
is mighty ; I have exalted one chosen out out of the people.' It best
befitted the divine wisdom to choose such a person as might under
take the work, and not miscarry in it ; otherwise we could have no-
assurance that full satisfaction was given.
4. Jesus Christ taketh away sin by bearing it in his own person.
'O aipw signifieth both to take it away and carry it away ; and it is
said, Isa. liii. 6, ' The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all/
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 489"
God laid it on him, and he willingly took it upon himself : 1 Peter
ii. 24, ' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree ; '
which signifieth his voluntary susception, as well as the Father's ordina
tion and appointment.
I must a little explain two things — (1.) How sin was laid upon Christ ;
(2.) That being transferred and laid upon Christ, it is taken off from
the creature.
[1.] How sin was laid upon Christ, for so the scripture speaketh.
There is in sin, culpa, the fault ; macula, the stain ; reatus, the guilt,
and pcena, the punishment. We cannot say the fault was laid on him,
for that is the blame which ariseth or groweth out of sin inherent ;
we cannot say the stain, for Christ was ' holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners,' Heb. vii. 26 ; therefore we must understand it
of the other two, the guilt and the punishment. The guilt is imputed
as he stood in our stead ; for he is said to ' bear the sins of many,' Isa.
liii. 12, and to { be made sin for us/ 2 Cor. v. 21. As he offered himself,
and obliged himself to make satisfaction to his Father's justice, his soul
and body was a ransom in our souls' stead : 1 Tim. ii. 6, ' Who gave
himself ' avrikrpov, a ransom for all.' He not only died in bonum
nostrum, for our good, but loco et vice omnium nostrum, he stood be
fore the Father's tribunal in our room and stead. Then for the punish
ment, as he was ' made sin for us,' so he was ' made a curse for us,' Gal.
iii. 13 ; that is, to undergo the curse of the law due to us. He was no
more spared than if we ourselves, who had sinned, had been in his
room and place at that time ; and therefore he is said to ' carry our
sorrows and bear our griefs/ Isa. liii. 4. He was the object of sin-
pursuing justice, and at his hands did God demand satisfaction for all
our wrongs. He had all the sins of the elect upon him by imputation
and voluntary susception, and was handled by divine justice as if he had
been guilty of them all.
[2.] The guilt and punishment being transferred and transacted
upon Christ, it is taken off from the creature ; and all who upon God's
terms do thankfully accept of this atonement are acquitted and recon
ciled to God, and taken into grace and favour through Christ : Job
xxxiii. 24, ' Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from
going down to the pit ; I have found a ransom.' When the surety
hath paid the debt, the debtor is let out of prison ; when the ram was
taken, Isaac was let go, Gen. xxii. As Christ told his persecutors,
John xviii. 8, ' If therefore you seek me, let these go their way.' In
that action of his there was a pledge, an illustration, at least, of his
offering himself to the curse of the law and the punishment due to sin,
to exempt us from it : Take me, and let these go. The fault is for
given, the guilt expiated, the blot more and more done away, and the
sentence of condemnation and punishment disannulled, so that ' there is
no condemnation to them that are in Christ/ Rom. viii. 1.
5. Christ, having borne the burden and weight of our sins, hath
undertaken to take away all that may be called sin ; he hath taken
away the guilt, and he hath taken away the stain, the obligation to
punishment, and the power of corruption ; or, in short, he hath pro
cured both justification and sanctification for us.
[1.] Justification is a fruit of his bearing sin : Isa. liii. 11, ' By his
490 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear
their iniquities/ To bear the sin is to bear the punishment, the wrath
due to it. Now God will not exact it twice, of Christ and of us too.
Christ doth so bear it for us that he takes it away from us, that we
are discharged from the guilt, and ' delivered from wrath to come,' 2
Thes. i. 10, and are brought into a justifiable condition before God ;
2 Cor. v. 21, ' He was made sin for us, that knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him.'
[2.] Sanctification, that is one taking away of sin, and a fruit of
Christ's bearing our iniquities : 1 Peter ii. 24, 'He bore our sins in his
own body upon the tree, that we, being dead unto sin, might be alive
unto righteousness.' Naturally we are alive to sin, love it, delight in
it, and are active in it, but we are dead to righteousness ; not only
sick and wounded, but dead to it. But Christ came to purchase grace,
to subdue our love and delight in sin, and to turn our hearts towards
God. We need a saviour to help us to repentance as well as to pardon.
The loss of God's image was part of our punishment, and the renova
tion of our nature is a part, yea, a principal part, of our deliverance
by Jesus Christ.
6. This work of taking away sin is not done all at an instant, but
accomplished by degrees. 'O a/Lptov; the participle noteth a con
tinued act ; it is a thing Christ is always a-doing till sin be no more.
Here we must distinguish between impetration and application. As
to purchase and impetration, Christ hath done it once for all ; there
needed no repeating of this act : Heb. x. 14, ' For by one offering he
hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified.' As to the merit,
nothing is wanting ; no other oblation and sacrifice needeth to be offered
to God. But as to application, so he is every day taking away sin.
What is his business now in heaven but to sit at the right hand of God,
and to see the fruits of his mediation accomplished ? yea, and as to the
same persons, Christ doth not destroy sin all at once. Narrow-mouthed
vessels cannot be filled in an instant, though cast into an ocean. There
fore taking away sin is a continual act, which Christ is ever a-doing.
Some blessings are dispensed presently, upon the first day of our enter
ing into the state of grace and favour with God, as adoption into God's
family, pardon of sins past, a renewing of the image of God in us, re
demption or exemption from the curse of the law ; which things increase
more and more unto their final perfection in eternal glory. Adoption
then shall be complete: Kom. viii. 23, ' Waiting for the adoption, to wit,
the redemption of our bodies.' When we shall know more fully what
honour and blessedness belongeth to the children of God ; now it doth
not appear what we shall be. So pardon of sin shall be then complete :
Acts iii. 19, 'Kepent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord.' All pardoned sins shall never be remembered more ; our absolu
tion shall be solemnly pronounced by the Judge upon the bench ; that
is the great regeneration : Mat. xix. 28, ' You that have followed me
in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his
glory, ye shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.' So for redemption : Eph. iv. 30, ' Grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption ; ' when
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 491
all the effects of sin shall cease, for death remaineth on the body till
that day.
7. This work of taking away sin is carried on with respect to Christ's
threefold office of king, priest, and prophet.
[1.] As a priest ; so he taketh away sin by his merit, having pur
chased a power and a virtue whereby our natures may be healed and
cleansed, and our peace made with God. In this sense it is said,
1 John i. 7, ' The blood of Jesus Christ his Son *cleanseth us from
all sin.'
[2.] As a prophet ; so he taketh away sin by his doctrine, which is fit
for such a purpose, as it commandeth and requireth purity and holiness,
and inviteth us to it by notable promises, and encourageth us by blessed
examples, especially of Jesus Christ himself, and the perfect pattern
of his holy obedience and heavenly life : John xvii. 17, ' Sanctify them
through thy truth ; thy word is truth.'
[3.] As a king ; so he taketh away sin by his Spirit. So backward
are our minds, so bad our hearts, so strong our lusts, so manifold our
temptations, that bare ' teaching will not serve the turn without a
spirit of light, life, and love, to open our eyes, and change our hearts,
and incline us, and bring us back again to God. Therefore it is said,
Titus iii. 5, 6, ' Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly,
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.' His merit giveth us confidence,
his word, means and helps, and his sanctifying Spirit maketh all effec
tual to the soul.
III. That this is the great end and scope of Christ's coming into
the world appeareth by sundry scriptures : 1 John iii. 5, ' And ye
know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no
sin.' He was manifested in the flesh, and manifested in the gospel
for this end. He came as an holy innocent saviour to take away sin :
Mat. i. 21, ' Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins.' Not to ease them of their trouble only, but chiefly
to destroy sin, with the mischievous effects of it. He is a saviour
that saves us from sin, not in sin.' Titus ii. 14, ' Who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.' Not only from the
.curse of the law, but from all inquity. The Mediator's blessing was
not to free us from the Eoman yoke, but from the slavery and bondage
of sin : Acts iii. 26, ' Unto you first, God having raised up his Son
Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from
his iniquities/
Reasons.
1. Sin is the great makebate between God and us. The first breach
was by sin, and still it continueth the distance : Isa. lix. 2, ' Your
iniquities have separated between you and your God.' Till sin be
taken out of the way, there can be no perfect communion between God
and the creature. The purity of God is irreconcilable to sin, though not
to the sinner, and therefore, though the sinner be pardoned, the sin
must be taken away.
2. Sin is the great disease of mankind, and the cause of all misery ;
therefore Christ came to stop mischief at the fountain-head. Take
away sin, and you take away wrath ; for when the cause is gone, the
492 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
effect ceaseth. Those who are most sensible of their true evil do-
mainly desire the taking away of sin. Pharaoh said, ' Take away this
plague ; ' but the church saith, ' Take away all iniquity,' Hosea xiv. 2.
Many seek to get rid of trouble and temporal afflictions, but not of
sin; because they have a gross sense of things, and measure their
happiness and misery by their outward condition: Hosea vii. 14,
' They assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against
me.' They sought not God's favour, but corn, and wine, and oil.
Others, if they mind spiritual things, they mind only pardon of sins
and ease of conscience, but not to be freed from the power of it ; as if
a man that had broken his leg should only desire to be eased of the
smart, but not to have it set again. But the true penitent is troubled
with the stain as well as the guilt, therefore the promise is suited to
such : 1 John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'
Others, if they would be freed from sin, they respect only the pre
venting the outward act, but you must abstain from the lust : 2 Peter
ii. 11, ' I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lusts, which war against the soul.' If they look after the heart and
inward man, it is some branch of sin, not the root, or the change of
the heart, and so die impenitent. Evil practices do not flow from a
present temptation, but an evil nature. All these lose their labour ;
they neither get rid of trouble nor prevent the act, nor are free from
the breach of God's law, but Christ would make a thorough cure.
3. Taking away of sin is a greater benefit than impunity, oj taking
away the punishment. Those means which have a more immediate
connection with the last end are more noble than those which are more
remote. The last end is the glory of God. Now the holiness and
subjection of the creature is a nearer means to it than our comfort and
pardon. Christ's end was to fit us for God's use, and therefore his end
was to sanctify us and free us from sin.
Use 1. Is caution. Let us renounce all sin, that we may not make
Christ's coming into the world in vain. You go about to frustrate your
Redeemer's end, and so to put him to shame, if you cherish sin, for
then you cherish that which he came to destroy : 1 John iii. 8, ' For
this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the
works of the devil ; ' that is, dissolve, untie, and loose this knot. The •
work of the devil is to bring us into sin and misery, and will you tie
the knot the faster ? If you go about to frustrate his undertaking, you
renounce all benefit by him, and slight the price of your redemption.
Use 2. Hath Christ taken upon him to carry away sin ; then here
is instruction —
1. To the careless. Certainly he that seeketh after benefit by Christ
must be one that is not a stranger to himself, one that knoweth and is-
acquainted with the case of his own heart and life, one that is sensible
of his sins and corrupt inclinations, and the guilt and burden that lieth
upon him, one that mourneth under the fears of God's displeasure.
Will Christ ease a man of a burden that he feeleth not ? A senseless
sleepy soul hath not work for Christ to do. He inviteth those that see
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 493
a need of mercy : Mat. xi. 28, ' Come unto me, all ye that labour and
are- heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'
2. To those who are afflicted in conscience for sin. Eemember, you
must be not only sensible of the guilt of sin, but the stain of it, and
look after not only peace, but healing : Isa. liii. 5, ' With his stripes we
are healed.' It is not a sound cure that aimeth only at the assuaging
of the grief, but the distemper must be removed. Mountebanks only
stop the pain, but let alone the cause ; such a cure would they have
who are more earnest for ease and comfort than for grace. Sin in some
sense is worse than damnation. Kemember, then, this is the under
taking of our blessed Eedeemer ; will he come in vain, and miss of his
end ? Consider the merit of his humiliation, what a price he hath
paid for sanctifying grace : 1 Peter i. 18, 19, ' Forasmuch as ye know
that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot.' This price was not given only to heighten our
esteem of the privilege, but to increase our confidence. And consider
the power of his exaltation : Acts iii. 26, ' God having raised up his
Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you
from his iniquities.' Having paid our ransom, he is gone into heaven
fully furnished and empowered to free from sin all that consent to
receive this benefit.
But what shall we do that we may have the actual benefit ?
[1.] Seek the pardon of sin in the way of repentance, confessing
your sins with brokenness of heart : 1 John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.' Sue out his grace, and turn to the Lord. Kepent-
ance lieth not in a feigned wish only that sin had not been done, but in
a change of mind, heart, and life ; in a hatred to sin repented of, and a
love to God and holiness. Man's fall was specially in point of love,
and his recovery must be a recovery of love to God again. Your love
to sin must be turned into an hatred of sin ; the soul must be not only
turned from sin, but against it. Kepentance is most seen in our love
and hatred.
[2.] Seek the subduing of sin in a diligent use of means. There is
a spirit purchased by Christ to begin the life of grace and to carry it
on with success, to heal and renew our natures, and to strengthen
them, being healed and renewed. Now we must not by our careless
ness, negligence, or other sin, provoke the Lord to withdraw from us
and suspend his grace, but humbly implore his favour, wait for his
approaches, and attend and obey his sanctifying motions. God is
willing to give the Spirit to them that ask him, as a father is to give
an hungry child bread: Luke xi. 13, 'If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ? ' We
make ourselves incapable of this help by grieving the Spirit : Eph. iv.
30, ' And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto
the day of redemption.' When we are so easy to the requests of sin,
and so deaf to his motions, he ceaseth to give us warning. There are
494 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
certain ordinances whereby this grace is conveyed to us, and Christ
died to sanctify them to us : Eph. v. 25, 26, ' Christ loved the church,
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word.' These ordinances are the word and
sacraments, by the use of which sin receiveth a new wound. The word
is for cleansing the soul : John xv. 3, ' Now ye are clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you.' Baptism must be improved for
the washing away of sin : Acts xxii. 16, ' Arise, and be baptized, and
wash away thy sins.' A man forgetteth his baptism, that is, neglect-
etlj. it, if he be not purged from sin : 2 Peter i. 9, ' He that lacketh
these things is blind, and cannot see far off, and hath forgotten that
he was purged from his old sins ; ' that is, he hath made no use and
received no benefit by his baptism. In the Lord's supper we re
member the death of Christ as the price given for the life of our souls,
as a spectacle that may affect us with the odiousness of sin, as an
occasion of renewing our covenant with God, and binding ourselves
afresh to his service, and as a means to stir up our love to God, and so
by consequence our hatred of sin : Ps. xcvii. 10, ' Ye that love the Lord
hate evil ; ' and to awaken our hopes, and so of purifying the soul :
1 John iii. 3, ' And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth
himself, even as he is pure.' Here is delivered to the believing soul a
sealed pardon of all sin : Mat. xxvi. 28, ' This is my blood of the new
testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins ; ' and we
wait for the application of his mortifying and renewing grace.
[3.] If the first attempt succeed not, yet afterwards sin may be
subdued and broken. In natural things we do not sit down with one
trial and one endeavour ; a man that will be rich pierceth himself
through with many sorrows, 1 Tim. iv. 10; and after many miscarriages
pursues his designs till he complete them ; and shall we give over our
waiting and striving because we cannot presently find success ? That
showeth our will is not fully bent and set upon the thing we seem to
desire. In the face of discouragements we must venture again : Luke
v. 5, 'Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing;
nevertheless at thy command I will let down the net.' God's grace is
free, and his holy leisure must be waited for. It was long ere God
got us to this pass, to be sensible of our burden, or anxiously solicitous
about our soul distempers. We must lie at the pool for cure. The
Spirit bloweth when and where it listeth : John iii. 8, ' The wind blow-
eth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth ; so is every one that is
born of the Spirit.' He that began the work to make us serious will
carry it on to a further degree if we be not impatient : Mat. xii. 20,
'A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not
quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.' He is not wont to
be strange to such as bemoan themselves to him : Jer. xxxi. 18, ' I
have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself.' It may be he will
not do it so sensibly by ordinances as by or not without sharp pro
vidences, which usually subtract the fuel of our lusts, and awaken
seriousness : Isa. xxvii. 9, ' By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob
be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his sin ; ' and 2 Cor,
xii. 7, ' There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29. 495
Satan to buffet me, lest 'I should be exalted above measure.' We
must leave God to his own way.
Use 3. Let it put us on thankfulness to our Kedeemer. Sin is a great
mischief. Now that he should fetch us up from the gates of hell, and
recover us, when the sentence of condemnation was passed upon us,
and there was nothing but the slender thread of a f rail% life between us
and execution, and was content to do it at so dear a rate, as to be made
sin, and to be made a curse for us, and that he should put us into the
way of salvation to obtain eternal life, how should our hearts be
enlarged in thanksgiving to such a Kedeemer ?
END OF VOL. XVIII.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
1
•'•
11
ii
IP
PS
I
• r.ft Ji •
II
§!
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11